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Man recants guilty plea of embezzling from reward fund
Roosevelt Henderson, who had pleaded guilty Feb. 6 to embezzling from a reward fund, withdrew his guilty plea Aug. 1 at what was supposed to have been his sentencing hearing.
Henderson, 50, formerly of Ashburn, was indicted Sept. 11, 2006, for embezzling about $2,000 from a reward fund he helped establish to solve the the 2002 murder of 14-year-old Erica Heather Smith.
Erica's body was found in August 2002, buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area of Beaumeade Corporate Park in Ashburn. July 29 marked the fifth anniversary of Erica's disappearance.
Her killer has not been found.
In fall 2002, Henderson-- opened two accounts with Middleburg Bank -- a reward fund to collect award money for information leading to the capture of Erica's killer and a memorial fund to pay funeral expenses and other bills.
Erica's father, William Smith, said Henderson approached Smith about establishing the funds. Henderson's daughter was Erica's best friend.
"I did not have a clue," said Smith about Henderson possibly setting up the funds for his own personal gain. "I did not expect that [he would take any money.]"
Between May and July 2003, Henderson made three withdrawals from the reward fund, totaling $2,050. Bank charges depleted the fund's remaining money, causing the account to enter into a negative balance. As a result, the bank closed the account.
Smith said he questioned Henderson several times about the fund, but only when Henderson became "combative" did Smith call the police.
Henderson was charged in May 2006 by a warrant from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office with two counts of grand larceny and money laundering.
The county district court dropped the charges of grand larceny and money laundering in August 2006, said Henderson's current defense attorney, Jennifer Wexton.
The commonwealth then indicted Henderson for embezzlement of the money he allegedly stole from the reward fund.
In February 2007, Henderson entered an Alfred plea – wherein a defendant maintains his or her innocence but pleads guilty realizing there is enough evidence for a judge or jury to convict.
But, with a new legal team, Henderson contested his plea at last week's hour-long hearing.
A witness called to testify at the Aug. 1 hearing in Henderson's defense said the defendant's prior counsel did not give Henderson enough time to review the Alfred plea agreement.
Henderson's defense team argued at last week's hearing that Henderson was led to believe that taking the Alfred plea was his only choice.
The defense team also argued that the Sheriff's Office did not turn over all the evidence it had gathered to the defense team and courts.
"Obviously there was a loophole," said Smith of a letter sent by Henderson to the Sheriff's Office, which was turned over to the commonwealth and defense attorneys the day before the sentencing hearing.
"We do believe that this was a preventable situation," Smith said. "I don't know who to point the blame at.
"The paperwork has become the issue in giving him a second chance."
Because the letter from Henderson was not turned over as evidence, the defense questioned whether more evidence had been collected by the sheriff's investigation that was previously withheld.
Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Sincavage would not comment on the contents of the letter.
"It begs the question, 'What else is in that file,' " said Wexton. "It's enough to ask for a motion to recant the plea."
The combination of rushed or bad advice from the previous defense counsel and the possibility of new evidence was enough to allow the Alfred plea to be withdrawn and to go to trial, said presiding Judge Burke McCahill.
Unfortunately, said Wexton, this could mean the commonwealth may try to charge Henderson with grand larceny and money laundering again.
Previously there wasn't enough evidence to indict him of money laundering and larceny. But the commonwealth could use the time before the trial to investigate missing money from memorial fund, about $14,000.
The Sheriff's Office's investigation reported that "seventeen of the withdrawals [from the memorial fund] were checks written by the defendant and negotiated by him for a total of $8,590."
In addition, another $3,000 in personal checks were written from the memorial fund by Henderson for reasons seemingly not related to Erica Smith.
If convicted of embezzlement, Henderson could face as little as a year in a local jail with up to a $2,500 fine or as much as a 20 years in a state prison.
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com
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