By Neil Harvey
The Roanoke Times
ROANOKE, Va. — Former Buchanan Volunteer Fire Chief Billy Joe Carter offered just four words on his way out of his bond hearing Monday.
“Thank you, Mr. Branscom,” he called out as he was led back to Botetourt County Jail after a judge ordered him held without bail.
Carter, 35, has been in custody for more than two weeks on a charge of rape. Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom said during the hearing that Carter, on Nov.3, attacked the boyfriend of a female neighbor — dragging him sleeping from a nap, struggling with him and ultimately chasing him, semiclothed, from the residence.
County investigator M.E. McFarland testified that the two men had clashed before, that Carter later told the woman he had run the man off because, he claimed, the man was abusing drugs near the girlfriend’s young daughter.
According to McFarland, Carter stayed at the house for another hour, left and then later came back. That’s when the complainant said the sexual attack occurred.
The woman has since moved from that residence, and Carter hasn’t been charged with assault against her boyfriend.
At Monday’s hearing, Carter offered an $87,000 piece of land he owns for his bond. He said he has 400 acres of corn, soybeans and alfalfa growing on a separate plot, worth an estimated $80,000, that he needs to harvest soon.
“You need to get out to take down those crops?” asked his defense attorney, Seth Weston.
“That’s how a farmer makes his living,” Carter said. “I’ll submit to whatever they ask.”
In further testimony, Carter and his wife both denied having access to any firearms, weapons he would be restricted from possessing because of two 2002 felony convictions in the county for eluding police.
Branscom then called as a witness Capt. K.K. Parker of the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office, who testified that while in jail, Carter had been recorded talking on the phone with his wife about converting weapons to cash.
“They had several conversations about selling guns for money,” Parker said, adding that the last discussion had been recorded Friday. “His wife is under no prohibition. She can buy and sell as she pleases,” Weston told the court.
But Branscom argued that the Carters’ statements amounted to perjury.
“He lied to you,” Branscom told General District Court Judge Bill Cleaveland.
“I don’t think there’s any misunderstanding about access to firearms,” Cleaveland said in his ruling. “I’m not in any position to take chances,” he added. “I’m not going to set bond.”
Carter’s preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 28.
The past year has been a tumultuous time for the former fireman. In January, while fighting a mobile home blaze, Carter suffered an electric shock from a fallen power line and spent several days in the hospital. The following month, the three-year veteran volunteer fire chief attempted to resign to protest Botetourt County’s plan to establish and hire a new director of emergency services. His resignation was rejected, and a director was hired the next month.
Carter told The Roanoke Times at the time that if the new official exercised his authority to take over an emergency scene, “there are going to be a lot of hurt feelings and busted noses.”
On June 27, Botetourt County Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle said Carter inappropriately intervened during a domestic dispute involving a suspect who later exchanged gunfire with deputies. The suspect in that case, a former Buchanan volunteer firefighter and Iraq War veteran, has since been charged with three counts of capital attempted murder.
Carter was not charged.
The first week of July, Carter and another man swore out warrants against each other for misdemeanor assault after they clashed at the Buchanan festival. They later agreed in court to drop their complaints.
Also that month, Roanoke County officials charged Carter after he allegedly threatened a Roanoke fire captain over the phone after the captain criticized him in a blog for his recent actions.
That charge was later dismissed in court, but by mid-July Carter tendered his resignation again and it was accepted.
Carter may also be facing higher scrutiny. During the bond hearing, Branscom said he had been made aware of a possible federal investigation to focus on Carter.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, Brian McGinn, said Monday that he couldn’t comment on whether such an investigation is under way.
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