ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601220045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER BEDFORD
Five young adults pleaded guilty Friday in Bedford County Circuit Court to breaking into a veterinary hospital to steal bottles of ketamine, a cat tranquilizer that also is a popular street drug.
Shera Young Surface, 18, of Roanoke pleaded guilty to one count of breaking and entering and one count of grand larceny. James Leslie Giddens, 19, of Roanoke pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking and entering.
Amy Leia Cleary, 19, and Eric Ross Garland, 18, both of Roanoke, and Chad Rudolph Honaker, 22, of Montvale each pleaded guilty to a single count of breaking and entering.
Each breaking and entering or grand larceny charge carries a sentence of one to 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
In September, neighbors reported a break-in at Bedford County Animal Hospital on Virginia 122. Bedford police stopped a car leaving the hospital and arrested Cleary, Garland and Giddens.
The police found animal tranquilizers and other drugs from the animal hospital inside the car.
From confessions made after that arrest, investigators charged Giddens, Honaker, and Surface with an Aug. 29 burglary at the animal hospital.
Ketamine, a white crystalline powder that drug abusers ingest by sniffing, has become increasingly popular in dance clubs along the East Coast for its hallucinogenic qualities.
Possessing ketamine is not a felony under state or federal law.
In Roanoke, selling it is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $1,200 fine.
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB