Courts and Crime

    A man accused of carrying out a water purification system scam in multiple localities pleaded guilty Tuesday morning in Bedford County Circuit Court, to three counts of construction fraud.

    Larry Eugene Foster, 46, was picked up by the U.S. Marshal’s Service in Nashville, Tenn., in August and has been in custody in Bedford County since last fall.

    For justice to be served, 67-year-old Earl Anthony Ware needed to spend some time in jail, stated Bedford County Circuit Court Judge James Updike during a sentencing hearing Monday.

    “I have seen people go to jail for stealing a cheap bottle of wine,” Judge Updike explained in handing out the 12 month jail sentence to the former Bedford County supervisor, found guilty earlier this year of stealing close to $300,000 from a widow, children and firefighters.

One of a group of men who allegedly attempted a home invasion in January has pleaded guilty to his participation in the incident.

    Augustus Xavier, 18, pleaded guilty last Tuesday in Bedford County Circuit Court to wearing a mask, two charges of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted burglary, attempted robbery and malicious shooting into a dwelling.

    A Bedford County man will spend four years and one month behind bars for running over a man with a pickup truck last year. Thomas Stinnett, 28, pleaded guilty, in Bedford County Circuit Court Tuesday morning, to charges of malicious bodily injury, driving suspended and felony hit and run.
    “In this case, he drove over a male who was with his wife who was estranged,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Wheelock.