Trial Date Set For Appy Voter Fraud.

Circuit Judge Tammy McElyea set an Oct. 3 jury trial date for the 14 individuals accused of election fraud and a host of other charges revolving around the 2004 town elections in Appalachia.
The 14 indicted by a Wise County grand jury two weeks ago include Appalachia Mayor Ben Cooper, Town Councilman Andy Sharrett, suspended Appalachia Chief Law Enforcement Officer Ben Surber, suspended police officer Walter Mike Baber, and Sharrett's parents, who were on the town payroll. Owen Anderson "Dude" Sharrett Jr. was working as the town's director of parks and recreation, and Belinda Carolyn Sharrett was employed as a clerk in Town Hall. They were also suspended, without pay, last week by the Town Council.
During Tuesday's arraignment in Wise County Circuit Court, 13 of the 14 people under indictment entered pleas of not guilty and "filled out a lot of paperwork," said Special Prosecutor Tim McAfee. "Nothing really happened today except getting a court date and filling out the paperwork."
All are free on bond under one set of terms or another - secured or unsecured - after being processed into the judicial system last week.
McAfee said Betty Chloe Sharrett Bolling, Andy Sharrett's great-aunt who was indicted as an alleged co-conspirator to commit election fraud, was not arraigned Tuesday because she had gallbladder surgery in recent days. He said her arraignment hearing will be arranged as soon as feasible. Bolling is represented by Norton attorney Joseph "Huck" Hunnicutt.
Baber, represented by Wise attorney Paul Johnson, was arraigned Tuesday morning, and the remaining 12 en masse Tuesday afternoon. Surber is represented by Dickenson County attorney Susan Oglebay.
McElyea also scheduled two pre-trial conferences on Aug. 3 and Sept. 26. Defense attorneys will have an opportunity to inspect evidence from April 17-21. Much of the evidence is documentation, and much of that was seized by investigators in early February from Town Hall.
Cooper is represented by Pennington Gap attorney Patty Church, and Andy Sharrett by Suzi Baker Cox of Wise. Dude Sharrett is represented by Gary Gilliam of Wise, and Belinda Sharrett by Jewell Morgan of Wise.
McAfee said he anticipates the attorneys for the 14 individuals will request separate trials, which may prompt more hearings between now and the Oct. 3 trial date for all.
"That's very likely, but (defense attorneys) will have to request that, and we will respond accordingly if and when that happens," he said.
Also indicted were Adam Brody Sharrett, Andy Sharrett's brother, represented by Stephanie Pease of Bristol; Dennis Martin "Boogie" Sharrett, Andy Sharrett's uncle, represented by Dan Fast of Wise; and another uncle of Andy Sharrett, Kevin Lee Sharrett of Indiana - accused of transporting illicit drugs to Wise County to add to the alleged voter bribe offerings of cheap cigarettes, six-packs of beer and packs of pork rinds - who is represented by Lebanon attorney Ben Chafin.
Some of the more egregious charges handed down by the grand jury involve absentee ballots and alleged forgery of those ballots. Cooper, for his part, faces 244 separate charges in the alleged ballot tampering scheme. McAfee estimates a total of 1,000 felony charges were leveled against the 14 defendants combined.
Don Houston Estridge, a former mail carrier accused of diverting absentee ballots into the hands of the alleged co-conspirators, is represented by Big Stone Gap attorney Walt Rivers. Three voters accused of making false statements on a request for assistance form at the polls on election day in 2004, allegedly so their votes could actually be cast by an alleged co-conspirator, are Betty Roxann Riddle, represented by Dan Fast; Krystal Shana Chandler Turner, represented by Norton attorney Si Ingram; and Natasha Sharrett Mullins, represented by Wise attorney Augusto Portuondo.

[Gotch]

I wouldn't be surprised if Estridge isn't hit with federal charges at some point for tampering with the mail while a postal employee. He could end up in more trouble than any of the rest.

[MikMo]

I can't believe that about Don Estridge. He's a preacher at a local church and as a matter of fact, preached my mother's funeral.

[imported_juggernaut28]

The whole fraud thing doesn't shock me. In every town you have those who lie, cheat and steal. These are the people who are appointed to protect and serve their community the honest way. They just find it tempting to do it the wrong way.

Andy Sharrett, among the Appalachia officials indicted by a Wise County grand jury two weeks ago on election fraud allegations, resigned from the Town Council via Town Attorney Mike Abbott on Thursday.

During Thursday's regular council session, Abbott read the same resignation letter Sharrett initially intended to tender during last week's special session but asked Abbott to withdraw shortly before that meeting began. The special session was called by Mayor Ben Cooper, also under indictment, on an announced intention to resign as mayor but not from the Town Council. Cooper rescinded his intention to resign as mayor during the special session but did relinquish his duties as town manager.

In the letter read by Abbott on Thursday, Sharrett said he was resigning on the advice of Abbott, plus he had been planning on moving out of town anyway.

The Town Council has 45 days to appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of Sharrett's term.

Abbott also told Town Council members that two town employees will pursue the town's employee grievance procedure. Four town employees - Andy Sharrett's parents, the chief law enforcement officer and a police officer - were among the 14 individuals indicted along with Sharrett and Cooper. All four were suspended without pay by the council last week.

Because of privacy laws concerning personnel matters, Abbott did not identify the personnel involved, but his other statements indicated that the two individuals seeking to pursue the grievance procedure may have been two of the four suspended without pay.

Abbott said the grievance matter poses "a little bit of a sticky situation" because the procedure begins with taking employment disputes up the ladder, and in this case "the same people up the line are the same people" pretty much in the same fix. He said if the parties are agreeable, it may be possible to bypass the initial stages of the procedure and take the grievances straight to a panel that will be established to settle employee/employer disputes.

A running feud between the council and the Appalachia Volunteer Fire Department was tabled yet again, this time on a motion by Councilman Jack Kibler. Abbott said the VFD has provided little information on the council's requests to detail an accounting of expenditures and use of fuel, allegedly in private vehicles.

Abbott said the VFD claims all fuel use is for authorized purposes only and wants the council to be more specific about expenditures. Abbott offered the council three options: ask the VFD for more information, drop the matter entirely, or ask the Wise County commonwealth's attorney and the Virginia State Police to investigate the department.

Jerry Strong, a volunteer consultant recruited by Councilmen Kibler, Eddie Golloway and John Brooks - the committee of three that has assumed the functions of town manager - provided a cheery report suggesting brighter days ahead for the town. When recruited as an adviser, Strong said his first thought was "no way do you manage a town by committee, or manage anything else by committee, either."

However, he praised the three councilmen for taking on the burden of running the town. He said a division of duties has Kibler in charge of preparing the 2006-07 budget and other fiscal matters, Brooks is in charge of administration and office affairs in Town Hall, and Golloway oversees the maintenance and water departments.

Strong said he has agreed to help recruit a new town manager by this summer, and there may be a person appointed to perform those duties in an interim capacity in the meantime. Strong also said the police department will probably be moved from its quarters in the Civic Center to the east wing of the Appalachia Towers on Main Street.

He said he was a "bit disappointed" in the response of coal trucking companies. Only six coal truckers bothered to meet with him last week, Strong said, and he asked them to obey the speed limit, stop spilling coal, and don't drive overloaded rigs through town. Strong said one of the truckers told him they "could not make money if we're not overloaded."

Kibler told townsfolk in attendance "we have been through a lot in the last two or three weeks of adverse publicity, and we've brought it on ourselves." But he said it is "time to let bygones be bygones" and "cast our eyes on the good things." He asked citizens to stop "bad mouthing" and "mind what we say, and let this go to rest if the newspapers will allow it."

Kibler said the town has been embarrassed before, and the best way to deal with the situation is to "straighten up our attitude and our disposition and everything else, and it will work out."