12/15/2011

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INSIDE No recount in District 4 after all > page 2

Volume 57, Number 50 • December 15, 2011

Bulldogs come close

Grubbs sentenced to four years in prison By Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com

Photo by Charlie Leffler

With a hold by Thomas Meadows (4) Goochland kicker Colby Cooke (16) connects on a state playoff record 51-yard field goal, surpassing 49-yard mark set in 2001 by Group AA Layfayette’s Connor Hughes. The Bulldogs lost to Gretna 21-16 in the state championship game Saturday. See story page 11.

Supervisors approve Benedictine move to River Road Abbey site By Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com

After months of wrangling, Benedictine College Preparatory School is moving to River Road in Goochland. Goochland’s Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 after a three-hour long pub-

INDEX

Calendar Classifieds Letters Obituaries

14 15 6 7

lic hearing to approve a Conditional Use Permit that clears the way for Benedictine to move its academic campus to Goochland County. County Fire and Rescue Chief William MacKay estimated that about 300 people attended the hearing, which was moved to the old high school gymnasium to accommodate the crowd.

Opinion Politics Sports TV Listings

6 2 9-11 12-14

More than 30 speakers came to the podium to speak their piece, with a clear majority favoring the move. Attorney Patrick McSweeney, representing a group calling itself Friends of Goochland, said the proposed CUP was in conflict with the counsee Benedictine > page 2

Former Goochland Treasurer Brenda S. Grubbs broke down in tears at the end of her sentencing hearing Tuesday. “I would like to apologize to the citizens of Goochland for betraying their trust. I know it was wrong,” she said before losing her composure. But Goochland Circuit Court Judge Timothy K. Sanner still sentenced Grubbs to 40 years on the 20 counts she pleaded guilty to in August, with all but four suspended. She will also be required to make restitution for the approximately $180,000 she embezzled from the county. Special Prosecutor Jeffrey W. Haslip, who had asked for five to 10 years incarceration, said he was satisfied. The defense had called a number of witnesses, including Grubbs’ husband Gerald and son Jason as well as psychiatrist James E. Sellman and appealed for no incarceration. Grubbs, 53, was arrested on Feb. 2 after Wachovia Bank officials contacted Goochland authorities about suspicious bank transactions she had made involving county funds. She later admitted to Goochland Sheriff James L. Agnew that she had cashed checks for $135,000 and wired money to Dubai via Western Union.

Grubbs

A subsequent report by Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts Walter J. Kucharski put the amount embezzled at more than $180,000. Tuesday’s sentencing hearing ended a long string of court appearances by Grubbs, including one failure to appear July 26 when it was revealed that she had been found unconscious and hospitalized after an apparent suicide attempt. Grubbs’ attorney James Maloney told Sanner at the Aug. 9 hearing that his client was suffering from mental and physical ailments that made her easy prey for an online predator, who persuaded her to wire money to an email address in Nigeria. Grubbs resigned in February after the Board of Supervisors asked Gov. Bob McDonnell to initiate ouster proceedings against her. Interim Treasurer Pam Johnson, appointed to fill out Grubbs’ term. was elected Treasurer in her own right Nov. 8.

SPORTS

ONLINE

Goochland comes up short against Gretna

Santa comes to the Tree Lighting

> page 10

> goochlandgazette.com


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