Editor's Note: Since the time of the story below, Jesse Sheckler was acquitted of all charges and a Charlottesville jury awarded him $10 million in compensation in a defamation suit against WVIR, which ran stories on charges against Sheckler.

The transcript below is composed of Plaintiff's Exhibit #1 in the defamation suit [in caps] and additional material from the tape of the newscast. It was originally posted on this website on May 31, 2003.

For more, see Index for Defamation Suit Against WVIR as Covered on Loper Website.

Luke:

GOOD AFTERNOON... [Everyone]
I'M LUKE DUECY...
THANKS FOR JOINING US...
TOPPING OUR NEWS... A DRUG BUST IN GREENE COUNTY LEADS TO A FEDERAL DRUG INVESTIGATION.

OUR MELINDA SEMADENI JUST RETURNED [from that county] AND HAS THE LATEST.
MELINDA HAVE THEY RELEASED THE NAMES OF THOSE CHARGED?

Melinda: [Well, right now,]

LUKE, FIVE PEOPLE HAVE NOW BEEN CHARGED [and they have been charged] WITH DRUG CONSPIRACY INDICTMENTS AND FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY.

[The names of those that have been charged are] JESSE SHECKLER [who] IS A BUSINESS MAN FROM GREENE.
[Samuel] ROSE, ROISON, BOLDEN AND SHUE ARE ALL FROM CHARLOTTESVILLE.
AND LADU RA-HEEM BOLDEN IS [at large and] A FUGITIVE AT THIS POINT.

D-E-A AND JADE FORCES CONFISCATED FIFTY GRAMS OF CRACK COCAINE AND 5-HUNDRED GRAMS OF POWDER COCAINE IN MARCH AT' SHECKLER'S HOME AND BUSINESS.

MANY GREENE COUNTY RESIDENTS ARE SHOCKED AT THE NEWS.

This segment is followed by an interview with someone in Greene County who says, "I've known him all my life and he's a good person. And he's done alot for the community here and everybody thinks well of him." (Excerpts from 6 pm WVIR Newscast, April 6, 2001).