Chase City Man Convicted of Fraud

Stanley Watson

Stanley Steven Watson, a 39-year-old Chase City man formerly of 2178 Fort Mitchell Road, was recently convicted in Lunenburg Circuit Court and sentenced to six months in jail for selling a stolen tractor to ABC Recycling in Kenbridge.  He was convicted in Mecklenburg County on the felony of Grand Larceny of the tractor for which he received 10 years suspended, but also was convicted in Mecklenburg of an unrelated charge of Possession of a Firearm by a Felon for which he received a mandatory two years active sentence in prison.

According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Clement, the conviction in Lunenburg was Obtaining Money by False Pretenses as the result of receiving $250.80 from ABC for the junked tractor that had been removed from property near 2085 Fort Mitchell Road in Mecklenburg County.  Investigator Rusty Callahan of the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office immediately called ABC Recycling Co. and determined that a tractor had been brought there that matched the description of the stolen one.  Photographs were obtained of the tractor and identified by the owner.  Photographs of Watson’s 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche and trailer with the tractor on the scales at ABC and his receipt identified Watson.

Watson said he had permission to take the tractor from a man who lived near the property, which the man denied.

Clement said that the defendant received conditions including good behavior, warrantless searches and seizures, and staying off the property of ABC Recycling.  Restitution had already been paid.