Ragland Gets House Arrest, Restitution

Former Officer Sentenced for Taking Money
From Bacon District Fire Department

Staff Report

KEYSVILLE – The case concerning a former Farmville and Blackstone law enforcement officer came to a close recently as Candice Ragland was ordered to pay restitution and will be under house arrest after pleading guilty to three counts of embezzlement.

Ragland who is listed as a Keysville resident was accused of embezzling over $70,000 from the Bacon District Volunteer Fire Department which is located in Charlotte County.

Ragland was found guilty of several felony counts of embezzlement against her, with some of the six overall counts dropped following an agreement with Amelia County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Bateman who had been appointed as special prosecutor.

The original six counts against Ragland represented one for every six months that she had taken money over a three-year period.

The case originated in 2011 and an arrest was made by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Appomattox Field Office in February.

Charlotte County Circuit Judge Kim Slayton White sentenced Ragland to five years in prison, but four years and ten months of that sentence was suspended. She will now face two months in a home-incarceration program. Before the agreement she faced as much as 120 years in prison with 20 years coming for each of the original six offenses.

Ragland must make restitution in the amount of $74,563.15 to the Bacon District Fire Department and pay court costs of $456.

She also faces supervised probation in a time frame that will be set by the probation officer assigned to this case.

According to reports, Ragland entered the guilty pleas in Charlotte Circuit Court on July 20.