ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610210039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
PATRICK ROONEY IS GUILTY of failing to pay money into the Franklin Memorial Park's trust fund. But is he also guilty of embezzlement?
Patrick Rooney, whose whereabouts was unknown for more than three years, finally had his day in court on charges that he misappropriated money while he owned Franklin Memorial Park, the largest cemetery in Franklin County.
Rooney was convicted Thursday on two misdemeanor charges that he didn't pay money into a cemetery trust fund as required by state law, county Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood said. Rooney, who ran the cemetery for about a year from 1990-91, faces a two-year sentence and a $5,000 fine.
He also was ordered to pay $108,000 in restitution.
Rooney was acquitted of two other misdemeanor charges that he didn't keep proper cemetery records.
The story of Franklin Memorial Park - which found itself in financial ruin in 1990 - and the search for Rooney - who finally was found in a federal prison in Georgia late last year - has been a saga.
It will be a while before the final chapter is written.
Rooney also faces a more serious charge of embezzling more than $100,000 from the cemetery, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Circuit Judge William Alexander took the charge under advisement Thursday. Hapgood said he and Rooney's attorney, Charles Strauss of Chatham, have two weeks to present arguments on the relevance of the charge in this case.
Hapgood said he knows of no similar cases involving embezzlement from a cemetery, but believes a graveyard is a business no different from a bank or a department store.
Rooney, however, has said that he simply was unaware of the trust fund law.
Hapgood doubts Rooney's statement, but he said ignorance is no excuse, even if it's true.
State law requires that cemetery owners place 40 percent of the proceeds from a grave plot sale into a trust fund that pays for perpetual care.
An audit of Franklin Memorial Park in 1990 revealed a $700,000 shortfall in trust money. Rooney and several of the cemetery's former owners were accused of improper practices.
The discovery of the shortfall and the resulting financial mess left Franklin Memorial Park insolvent and a lot of creditors - including County Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton and other local leaders - unhappy.
Emotions reached a peak in 1994 when two people got into a scuffle at a creditors' meeting.
Later, a board of trustees was set up to manage the cemetery.
All the while, Rooney was nowhere to be found.
He left Virginia shortly before he was indicted in October 1992 and for some time was believed to be in Florida.
Hapgood, on a tip from a federal investigator, found out that Rooney - who was known in Franklin County as Patrick J. Rooney - was in the Jesup, Ga., prison under the name Francis Patrick Rooney.
Rooney was serving a six-month sentence in Georgia for executing a scheme under false pretenses and concealing property from creditors. He was released several months ago and was immediately arrested and brought back to Franklin County.
Rooney was convicted of running afoul of Virginia's perpetual-care cemetery laws in Rockbridge County in 1991. At one time, he owned 12 cemeteries in Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio.
Franklin Memorial Park is on U.S. 220 between Boones Mill and Rocky Mount.
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