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Arsonists Sentenced

   Written by on October 24, 2013 at 10:55 am
Michael Clough Age 21 of Chase City

Michael Clough
Age 21 of Chase City

Aaron S. Newcomb Age 21 of Chase City

Aaron S. Newcomb
Age 21 of Chase City

Samuel Thomas Woodson III Age 20 of Chase City

Samuel Thomas Woodson III
Age 20 of Chase City

Three men charged with arson appeared in Charlotte County Circuit Court on Wednesday to be sentenced.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Michael Clough, age 21, Aaron Scott Newcomb, age 21, and Samuel Thomas Woodson III, age 20, all of Chase City, were arrested and charged in connection with the fire that destroyed the S.T. Adams Store in Wylliesburg on September 16, 2012.

Aaron Newcomb pled guilty to three felonies: arson of personal property, arson of an unoccupied building and entering a building with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery or arson. He was sentenced to 40 years with 37 years, nine months suspended, leaving an active sentence of two years, three months. He will be subject to good behavior for 20 years and supervised probation for 3 years.

Additionally, Newcomb was tried in Mecklenburg County Circuit Court on March 21, 2013 on three charges: arson of a dwelling, entering a building with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery or arson and grand larceny. For those crimes, he was sentenced to 60 years with 51 years suspended, two years supervised probation upon his release and $177,324.24 to pay in restitution. The active sentence of 9 years will be served consecutively after the sentence from Charlotte County, bringing Newcomb’s total active sentence to 11 years, 3 months.

Michael Brandon Clough was found guilty in three cases: arson of an unoccupied building, arson of a vehicle and entering a building with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery or arson. He was sentenced to 40 years total, with 34 years, one month suspended for a total active sentence of 5 years, 11 months. On his release, he’ll be subject to 20 years good behavior and three years supervised probation.

Clough also was tried in Mecklenburg County Circuit Court for arson of a dwelling and grand larceny. For those crimes, Clough was sentenced to 50 years with 43 years suspended, supervised probation for 2 years with $177,327.24 to pay in restitution.

Samuel T. Woodson III was charged with arson of personal property, arson of an unoccupied building and entering a building with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery or arson. He pled guilty to lesser crimes, including one count of trespassing after being forbidden and two counts of intentional destruction of property. He was sentenced to 12 months for each charge. He received credit for his time already served and the balance was suspended. He will be subject to three years probation and three years of good behavior.

Regular readers of the Messenger will recognize Aaron Newcomb from the February 23, 2012 edition in which Newcomb and two others were charged with breaking and entering and grand larceny in the early morning break-in of the Saxe Superette on January 10, 2012. Newcomb pled guilty to the charge of entering a building with intent to commit larceny and was sentenced to 15 years with 15 years suspended with three years of probation and $3077.81 to be paid in restitution. Newcomb will return to court later this year to be tried for violating his probation.

About Evan Jones

Evan is the Assistant Editor at the Southside Messenger newspaper in Keysville, Virginia.

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