By Duncan Adams
The Roanoke Times
BEDFORD, Va. — The son of the late “chief-for-life” of the Hardy Volunteer Fire Company received a suspended sentence Tuesday in Bedford Circuit Court for benefiting from the sins of his father. Cory Shifflett, 25, had pleaded guilty Nov. 17, 2009, to seven charges of felony embezzlement for enjoying some of the spoils of Jeffrey Lee Shifflett’s embezzlement of more than $150,000 from the fire company over several years.
Cory Shifflett has been out on bond since. On Tuesday, a sentencing agreement reduced the charges against him to seven counts of misdemeanor interference with property rights. Shifflett, himself a former member of the volunteer fire company, told the court he hopes to become a career firefighter someday.
Jeffrey Shifflett never faced trial because he shot and killed himself one day after being indicted July 7, 2009, on embezzlement charges with his wife, Deborah Lynne Shifflett, and Cory. He was 51 years old.
On Friday, Deborah Shifflett, now 40, pleaded no contest to seven counts of misdemeanor interference with property rights. She had earlier pleaded guilty to the felony embezzlement charges but subsequently withdrew her plea.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled in her case. Cory Shifflett was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail and a fine of $2,500 on each of the seven counts — to be served consecutively. The sentences were suspended with conditions, including four years of good behavior, 100 hours of community service, and payment of a balance of restitution of about $6,190 of an original total of $7,500.
Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Krantz said he felt the suspended sentence was warranted. Shifflett had no previous convictions, cooperated with the investigation and was prepared to testify against his stepmother if her case had gone to trial, Krantz said. If Shifflett had been sentenced according to guidelines for the felony charges, the outcome would have been the same, Krantz said.
During the sentencing hearing, Shifflett said he was 16 or 17 when he first started using a fire department gas card provided by his father to fuel personal vehicles. While testifying voluntarily Tuesday, Shifflett initially said he knew use of the card was wrong when sheriff’s deputies showed up at the door. He clarified soon after that he’d suspected for a while that gassing up on the fire department’s dime wasn’t right.
Krantz said pressing to convict Shifflett on the felony charges would have limited the young man’s future options. Sometimes, Krantz said, “It’s best not to crush a young person’s life.
He can recover from this. He has the potential to be a very good man.” During the sentencing hearing, Krantz said the late Jeffrey Shifflett held sway over his son as both father and fire chief — a reality he said did not excuse Cory Shifflett’s wrongdoing but provided context for his crimes.
On Friday, Eric Shell, chief of the Hardy fire company, said the resolution of the cases against Cory and Deborah Shifflett will allow access to property seized when the investigation launched. He said the fire company will try to sell the property — which included a tractor, firearms, personal vehicles and other goods — to help pay off the debt created by Jeffrey Shifflett’s embezzlement.
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