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 #6 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.

Nordia: A DRUG BUST IN GREENE COUNTY LEADS TO A FEDERAL DRUG INVESTIGATION.
FIVE PEOPLE HAVE NOW BEEN CHARGED WITH DRUG CONSPIRACY INDICTMENTS AND FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY.
THE FIVE ARE...

GREENE COUNTY BUSINESS OWNER, JESSE SHECKLER.
SAMUEL ROSE, RODNEY ROBINSON, LADU BOLDEN AND TODD SHUE ARE ALL FROM
CHARLOTTESVILLE.
LADU BOLDEN IS CONSIDERED A FUGITIVE AT THIS POINT.

D-E-A AND JADE FORCES CONFISCATED 50-GRAMS OF CRACK COCAINE AND 500-HUNDRED GRAMS OF POWDER COCAINE IN MARCH AT SHECKLER'S HOME AND BUSINESS.
MANY GREENE COUNTY RESIDENTS ARE SHOCKED AT THE NEWS.

[There would be a sound bite. Continue?]

This 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, HE'S DONE A LOT FOR THE COMMUNITY AND EVERYONE THINKS WELL OF HIM

Nordia : ALL MEN CHARGED IN THE DRUG BUST HAVE PLEADED NOT GUILTY.
THE TRIAL HAS BEEN SET FOR JUNE 21ST." (Excerpts from WVIR Newscast, April 7, 2001).