Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994                   TAG: 9407010080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HEIRESS GENEROUS WITH MERCY

Joe Cobbe, who also has Sale's power of attorney, said the elderly woman realizes that she was taken advantage of, but that she still has sympathy for Stone and has "no desire" to see her in jail.

"But then again, she probably doesn't think Jeffrey Dahmer or Charles Manson should go to jail either," the Martinsville accountant said. "She just doesn't like jails."

Cobbe said Sale told federal probation officers her wishes when they interviewed her months ago to find out how the crime affected her.

"She's a nice old lady who came to trust and love Susan Stone," Cobbe said, adding that Sale, who has retired to Hilton Head, S.C., doesn't seem to hold any bitterness toward Stone.

"She's never been angry," he said.

Stone, a former trust officer at the bank, managed Sale's multimillion-dollar accounts for years before she was suspected of embezzling money from them.

Though it was reported just this week that Stone has agreed to plead guilty to embezzling a much smaller amount than was taken from Sale's account, sources said Thursday that she signed the agreement last year.

By cooperating with prosecutors and pleading guilty to taking a smaller amount, Stone's sentence will be much shorter than if a jury had convicted her of stealing the entire $5.5 million the bank reported missing.

An attorney for the bank said Wednesday that Stone's plea agreement calls for her to plead guilty to embezzling between $800,000 and $1.5 million.

Cobbe speculated that Stone would spend about two years in prison.

Stone hasn't been formally indicted, but the charges are expected to go before a grand jury next month.

Piedmont has filed a federal civil suit against its two insurance companies for refusing to pay the bank's $5.5 million claim.

Stone, 44, and Sale have had no contact in more than a year, since federal investigators began investigating Stone, Cobbe said.

Sale is the daughter of Pannill Knitting Co. founder William Pannill and the widow of E.A. Sale, former president of Sale knitting company. The bank has repaid the money taken from Sale's account, Cobbe said. Her trust fund is now handled by First Union Bank in Hilton Head.