Appy. Bad Way To Make The News

March 2nd, 2006, 08:42 PM

Appy and it's voter problem. WCYB will have something on it again tonight.
For the first time. And i don't even live in the town limits, I have to say i am sorry for what has transpired.
For those looking from the outside.
Please don't think it's all.
It is just a few who well are seeking political office, their own agenda, and some to nieve to not think it would catch up with them.
As with some others who face this. Don't judge us all on the unchosen few.

I know sister town/city GC has faced the same with ex mayor still having 30 some charges to face.

But for such a small town as Appalachia. It still paints a face of embrassement on the whole town and outlying community.

Thanks,
LPDFTBL

**R0cketer** · March 2nd, 2006, 09:38 PM

LPD keep informed. I seen a small article on the bristol herald or tricities.com but not a lot but a lot of people charged in it, wow.

I know its gotta suck, we all know that kind of stuff goes on in small towns like this regularly, well semi-regularly.

**PVVikeFan** · March 2nd, 2006, 10:19 PM

Yes, this is a TERRIBLE way to make the news. But even worse, it is a terrible way to end up doing time. Nothing at all against Appalachia, but why take a chance on jail time to hold public office in Appalachia? There has to be a reason. I just can't figure it out.

**Gotch** · March 2nd, 2006, 10:42 PM

Actually noone has been charged....yet.

I know a couple of those being investigated pretty well, even consider one an old friend. Very sad, but sometimes basically very good people do very stupid things.

**Gotch** · March 2nd, 2006, 10:44 PM

It just dawned on me that I haven't seen the news today. Has there been indictments?

**TheBeast** · March 2nd, 2006, 10:48 PM

I don't look at Appy any differently. I know that a politician is just a politician even in Appallachia. The only thing I am thinking about is how this is gonna make our region look to the rest of the counrty or state when they get on the wagon about how they used cigarettes, pork rinds, and beer to buy the votes. Oh well here we are world the Rednecks of southwest Virginia and proud of it.

**R0cketer** · March 2nd, 2006, 11:54 PM

Yeah per the link I mentioned earlier there was something
gonna have to watch 11 news to make sure

**imported_elp6n** · March 3rd, 2006, 12:05 AM

14 indicted, including chief of police, mayor, town manager, councilmen. 200+ charges.

March 3rd, 2006, 12:11 AM

Fourteen individuals, including the mayor/town manager of Appalachia, a town councilman, and two law enforcement officials, were indicted by a Wise County grand jury on multiple counts stemming from an alleged conspiracy to conduct election fraud during the 2004 town elections.

The indictments show the investigation hasn't been just about pork rinds, Special Prosecutor Tim McAfee said during a press conference at the Wise County Courthouse. The investigation into allegations of voter fraud evolved from early reports of attempted vote buying before town elections that reportedly involved items like bags of pork rinds, packs of cigarettes, and six-packs of beer.

While the entire affair may have been sparked by rumors of "votes being sold for pork rinds," said McAfee, "I think it would be a fair statement to say it is not about pork rinds, and never was about pork rinds."

The grand jury handed down a total of nearly 1,000 felony counts leveled against the 14 individuals on 269 alleged violations of law ranging from conspiracy, to tampering with absentee ballots, to forgery, to illegal seizure of private property by law enforcement officials for their own personal use. Drug trafficking by some individuals has also been alleged.

McAfee said the 300-page indictment document and the investigation details "a pattern of misconduct" before, during and after the May 4, 2004, town elections that boils down to "corruption" that permeated Town Hall.

Those indicted include Appalachia Mayor/Town Manager Ben Cooper; Town Councilman Owen Anderson "Andy" Sharrett III; Sharrett's father, Appalachia Parks and Recreation Director Owen Anderson "Dude" Sharrett Jr.; Sharrett's brother, Adam Brody Sharrett; wife to Dude and mother of Andy and Adam Sharrett, Belinda Carolyn Sharrett, employed in a clerk position in Town Hall; Dude Sharrett's aunt, Betty Chloe Sharrett Bolling; Dude Sharrett's brother, Kevin Lee Sharrett of Indiana; and Dennis Martin "Boogie" Sharrett, another of Dude Sharrett's brothers.

Kevin Lee Sharrett is alleged to have brought illicit drugs from Indiana into the Appalachia area.

Appalachia's chief law enforcement officer, Benjamin Graham Surber, has been charged with being a part of the election fraud conspiracy as well as occupying a sham position, collecting pay for no work. McAfee alleged Thursday that Surber's "job" was basically to collect a paycheck so Cooper could maintain direct control over the police department.

Appalachia Police Officer Mike Baber is charged with seizing private property for his personal benefit.

"You don't keep TVs for your personal use," McAfee said.

McAfee alleged that on at least one occasion Baber seized property without a search warrant, and the victims of "police raids" may have been flirting with the shady side of the law themselves and were reluctant to complain.

Don Houston Estridge, who worked as a mail carrier in the Appalachia Post Office, is charged with intercepting and diverting absentee ballots so they could be doctored with forged signatures and false statements then returned to the Wise County Voter Registrar's office as legitimate ballots.

Charges against three women who reside in Big Stone Gap include allegations they signed false requests for assistance at the polls so their votes could be cast for the slate of candidates, headed up by Cooper, favored by the alleged conspirators.

Absentee ballots were marked by persons other than the intended voters, McAfee said, and "many (absentee ballots) never saw their intended recipient."

McAfee said an arraignment hearing for all 14 individuals has been scheduled in Wise County Circuit Court at 1 p.m. on March 14. He said authorities will likely contact each of the indicted individuals over the next week or so to report voluntarily to the sheriff's department for processing, and figured most if not all will prefer that to being picked up by deputies and placed under arrest. McAfee said he expected many of the individuals will probably be set free under personal recognizance pending the arraignment hearing.

McAfee and Assistant Special Prosecutor Greg Stewart said the outcome of the 2004 town elections could have "mathematically" been altered as a result of the alleged conspiracy, counting the 55 or so absentee ballots thus far in question. There were 585 votes cast, including 103 absentee ballots - far more than a typical election in Appalachia - with seven candidates for three available seats on the Town Council.

Cooper and his running mates of Sharrett and Eddie Golloway ousted longtime Mayor Gary Bush to seize control of Town Hall. Golloway is not a party to any of the indictments.

McAfee said Thursday's indictments do not signal the close of the investigation. He said the indictments merely signal the end of "Chapter One," and the probe is ongoing.