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Former magistrate will serve no prison time
By Margo Oxendine • Staff Writer
WARM SPRINGS - Nearly a dozen supporters showed up in Bath County Circuit Court last Friday for the sentencing of Cristina Stinespring, formerly of Bacova.
Stinespring, 56, was convicted earlier this year of four felony counts of embezzlement. Judge Humes Franklin heard the case Sept. 7; after taking it under advisement, he issued his guilty verdict in March. Last week, Franklin sentenced Stinespring, who now lives in Newport News, to one year in prison on each of the four counts, to run concurrently. He then suspended that, and placed Stinespring on one year of unsupervised probation.
Stinespring has made restitution of the $2,640 in unauthorized checks she wrote herself while acting as treasurer of Bacova United, an association of homeowners in that village. She was also ordered by the judge to pay court costs, which amounted to $1,475.
Bath Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Singleton, who prosecuted the case, told the judge Friday, "We are not asking for any active incarceration."
Stinespring's attorney, Timothy Clancy of Hampton, spoke to her many deeds of community service, including a stint as Bath County's Christmas Mother.
Both attorneys and the judge agreed Stinespring had "given much to the community and her family," and the four felony convictions would cause her "eternal consternation and shame."
Stinespring stood stoically during the sentencing, and made no statements in open court.
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