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.

The article below was originally posted on this website on May 31, 2003. For more, see Index for Defamation Suit Against WVIR as Covered on Loper Website.

"A $tanardsville man charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics testified Tuesday that the $37,000 he gave to a friend was a loan for the building or a house, not to invest in drugs as alleged by the prosecution.

Jesse R. Sheckler, 50, of Pea Ridge Road in Stanardsville, was indicted in March on one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

The defense finished presenting evidence Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville.

Sheckler testified Tuesday about his relationship with convicted drug felon Samuel E, Rose, who the prosecution alleges got money from Sheckler to invest in his cocaine and marijuana business.

Sheckler testified that he met Rose when Rose brought his vehicle to Sheckler's automotive garage to be worked on. The two men talked and Rose mentioned he was thinking about building a home for his mother, Sheckler said.

Sheckler testified that he and Rose met a few more times, then met with Sheckler's brothers-in-law, Mark and Andy Lohr, who had known Rose previously.

Sheckler said Rose eventually asked him for a loan and told him he would pay him back in 90 days with 10 percent interest. Sheckler said his relationship with Rose continued, and he loaned Rose an estimated $37,000 in cash in late 1999.

Rose testified Monday that he used the money to buy large amounts of marijuana and cocaine and resold it for a large profit, which he was to share with Sheckler.

Sheckler's attorney, Denise Y. Lunsford, said Monday in opening statements that Rose misrepresented what he needed the money for and evidence would show that Sheckler "had no idea what Mr. Rose had planned for this money."

Sheckler testified Tuesday that Rose told him he needed the money for a house he was building for his mother. Sheckler stressed that the loan was personal and not at all related to any business.

Sheckler said he kept the cash in a large safe in his garage. He testified that he got the cash from earnings at automobile races, an insurance settlement and a life insurance policy, Sheckler testified that he claimed and paid taxes on all the money.

Sheckler said Rose never mentioned drugs to him. Rose had testified Monday that Sheckler knew at their first meeting that. he sold drugs.

Rose began repaying Sheckler in small increments in 2000, before Rose was arrested in November on drug charges. He agreed to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration to tape phone calls between himself and Sheckler talking about the money he owed.

The prosecution used the tapes Tuesday as evidence that Sheckler knew how much money was owed him and that he knew Rose had been arrested.

Sheckler maintained that the amounts mentioned on the tapes referred to the personal loan he made for the building of Roses mother's house

The case will go to the jury Thursday morning." (Keri Schwab, The Daily Progress, October 31, 2001)