Two Get Active Prison Terms
For Local Church Break-Ins
BY TK.RRY POPK
Two men charged with the larce
ny of more than S12,(XK) worth ol
amplifier and music equipment
from five Brunswick County
churches were sentenced to prison
last week in Brunswick County Su
perior Court.
Ira Douglas Mathis. 18. and
Thomas Elmor Wnghi, 30. were ar
rested in July at the Town and
Country Motel in Bclvillc by offi
cers from Brunswick and New Han
over County sheriff's departments.
Mathis was sentenced to years
in prison by Judge Lynn Robinson
and Wright was given a 20-year
sentcncc alter the two men entered
guilty pleas to some of the charges
last Thursday.
The two men were also charged
w ith breaking and entering and lar
ceny involving 10 churches in New
Hanover County and three churches
within the city limits of Wilming
ton The five churches broken into
in Brunswick County were Peace
Memorial Baptist Church in Win
nabow, New Hope Free Will Baptist
Church near Leland. Lettie's Grove
Pentecostal Church in Shallotte. Mt.
Olive Baptist Church in Bolivia and
First Baptist Church of Woodbum.
Mathis had been chargcd in all
five brcak-ins while Wright wis not
charged in the break-in at Wood
burn. The men had been held in the
Brunswick County Jail under
565,000 bond since their arrest in
Julv.
Judge Robinson, resident Superi
or Court judge in Cumberland
County, ordered that the men receive
credit for time served in jail while
awaiting trial. He also ordered that
Mathis receive substance abuse
counseling and that he not benefit as
a committed youthful offender
Mathis pleaded guilty to five
counts of breaking and entering and
larceny while Wright pleaded guilty
to count of breaking and entering
and larceny and no contest to two
counts. Each count carries a maxi
mum sentence of 10 years in prison
and a minimum of three years.
Brunswick County Sheriff detec
tives recovered some of the proper
ty following a search of the Belville
motel room where the men were
staying. Some of the items taken
wcrc believed to have been sold
through a fencing operation. The
items included musical equipment
amplifiers, guitars, public-address
systems, speakers and cassette play
ers.
Judge Robinson also heard the
following cases during a special
criminal session of Superior Court
last week:
? Brcnda Gale Todd Crocker, 28, of
Route 6, Shallotte, was given a fivc
vear suspended sentence after
pleading guilty to 34 counts of em
bezzlement. Crocker was indicted in
November on charges that she em
bezzled amounts ranging from S10
to S30 on 34 separate occasions
while employed with the Minute
Man Food Man, which has stores in
Calabash, Shallottc and Seaside
She was placed on five years' su
pervised probation and oalered to
repay 5690 to the food store and
pay $350 in attorney fees.
? David Crummy, 28, of Wilming
ton, was found guilty by a jury of
assault with a deadly weapon in
flicting serious bodily injury and
discharging a firearm into occupied
property and was sentenced to 20
years in prison. Crummy's half
brother, John E. McGhec, 25, of
Wilmington, was also on trial, but
the jury found McGhec not guilty ol
the chargcs facing him stemming
from an April 8 shooting at a Na
vassa night club. Steven Earl Grady
and Tcrrancc Stokcly were hit by
gunfire during an argument outside
Valentino's.
Crummy was convicted in New
Hanover County Superior Court
earlier this year on eight counts of
trafficking in cocainc from New
York. He was accused of leading a
40-mcmber gang that allegedly
brought in 77 pounds of "crack" co
caine to New Hanover County be
tween July 1987 and July 1988. He
was sentenced to 280 years in pri
son and fined S2 million. One of the
men shot in Navassa was a key w it
ness for the state in that trial. Crum
my's attorney, Michael Ramos, filed
notice that he will appeal the case to
the N.C. Court of Appeals. Crummy
is being held under SI million bond.
? David Christopher Bcacham. 21,
of Charlotte, pleaded guilty to pos
session of lysergic acid dictliy
lamide (LSD) and received a prayer
for judgment continued until Jan.
14. Bcacham was arrested March 10
by Shallottc Police Officer GJ.
Semck for possession of LSD and
drug paraphernalia. He is a student
at Central Piedmont Community
College, the arrest warrant stated.
? Jerry Lee McNeil, 37, of Airport
Road. Shallotte, was given a three
year suspended sentence and placed
on five years' supervised probation
after pleading guilty to possession
with intent to sell and deliver
"crack" cocainc. McNeil was also
fined S300 and ordered to perform
200 hours of community scrvicc.
He was stopped in May by the
Shallottc Police for driving left of
ccnter on N.C. 130 west. When he
stepped from the vehicle, a medicine
bottle containing 29 pieces of
"crack" cocaine fell onto the ground.
Another bottle containing four
pieces was also confiscated along
with SI,067 in cash. The drugs were
valued at S3,300. The cash seized in
the case is to be turned over to the
Brunswick County Schools. McNeil
was ordered to enroll in a substance
abuse program.
Brunswick Business
Service
GREETINGS &
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