There has been a little bit of reporting lately on the continuing saga about Page County Sheriff Presgraves. The latest developments are that a federal jury trial is set to begin March 16, but his defense team wants his trial on 22 charges of alleged corruption delayed. The charges include racketeering and sexual assault, which may make for a complex case, but Presgraves attorney also is calling it a “voluminous” case, according to reporting in H-burg’s Daily News and Record (DNR), reported by Jeremy Hunt.
As of Friday the motion to delay the trial was denied. Still pending is a decision about where to hold the trial – it’s been moved out of the county and will likely be held in H-burg or Roanoke. Also, a new petition to remove Presgraves from office is making the rounds after the first one was rejected.
The DNR reported Friday that the new petition is about 50 pages, including the indictment and bond order, and that about 100 people had signed it – 10 percent of the voting population needs to sign for it to be valid, or about 800 Page County residents.
Meanwhile, Presgraves continues to draw the Sheriff’s nearly $100K salary despite the indictment and subsequent orders that prohibit his wearing the uniform, using official vehicles, and even entering the office or meeting with employees.
Frankly, with the Page County paper full of letters to the editor about hard-working folks worried about keeping their homes and facing other challenges from the economic situation we face, seems like a good faith gesture from him waiving the salary, or a new court motion putting him on a leave without pay situation, would be the right thing to do. That’s money that could help a lot of people who probably need it more than him – or reduce the county’s prospective deficits this year.
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