Friday, June 27, 1997
Area news roundup
Hobbs man killed near Big Spring
BIG SPRING - A Hobbs, N.M., man was killed Thursday morning
in a one-car accident eight miles north of here on U.S. 87.
Albert McDade Sr., 82, died at Scenic Mountain Medical Center
within an hour of the accident at 10:24 a.m., said Justice of
the Peace Jack Buchanan.
McDade, a passenger in a car driven by Hubert Turner, 81, of
Hobbs, was en route to an appointment at the Veterans Administration
Medical Center in Big Spring.
Department of Public Safety trooper Miles Tollison said Turner
fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle as he
headed south on U.S. 87.
Turner was taken to the VA Medical Center where he remains
hospitalized in good condition.
Houston man sentenced for his part in theft
BIG SPRING - The co-defendant of a Big Spring man who is serving
a prison term for stealing money from two insurance companies
has been sentenced to 46 months in a federal prison.
C. Wayne Reeder of Houston was sentenced Wednesday for stealing
$16.5 million from American Universal Insurance of Providence,
R.I., and Diamond Benefits Life Insurance of Arizona. Sentencing
was in U.S. District Court in Providence.
Reeder's co-defendant, Charles Christopher of Big Spring, is
serving a 10-year prison sentence for stealing almost $30 million
from the two companies which Christopher and Reeder took over
in the late 1980s.
Christopher recently was transferred to the federal prison
in Bastrop. The two men were convicted after separate trials in
Providence.
During the 1980s, Christopher was chief executive officer of
Oilfield Industrial Lines, a Big Spring manufacturer of oilfield
derricks and equipment sold around the world.
New Mexico man sentenced for transporting marijuana
A New Mexico man was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday
for transporting 76 pounds of marijuana in his car.
Oscar Ibanez, 24, of Anthony, N.M., pleaded guilty to possession
of marijuana but asked District Judge Billy John Edwards to set
punishment.
He asked for probation, saying he has no previous convictions
and contending he had never before been involved with drugs but
was this time because he needed money.
A state trooper stopped Ibanez on April 17, 1996, on Interstate
20 in Taylor County because he was not wearing a seat belt, said
Assistant District Attorney Robert Harper.
The trooper, smelling marijuana and noticing the driver's nervousness
and other signs, began searching the car and eventually found
the drugs hidden in the roof lining.
Wreck victim in stable condition
Courtney Collins was in stable condition at Hendrick Medical
Center Thursday after being injured in an accident Wednesday near
Hamlin.
Collins, 16, as flown to Hendrick after colliding with a diesel
tanker she was trying to pass.
Department of Public Safety trooper Chuck Wheeler said Collins
tried to pass a truck driven by Thomas Martinez as Martinez was
attempting to turn left on Farm Road 126 about five miles southwest
of Hamlin.
Collins' car hit the side of the truck, causing it to flip
onto its top, spilling half of the 600 gallons of diesel.
The Department of Transportation was called in to dump sand
on the spilled fuel.
Defense attorney William Elliott argued Ibanez has strong family
support and no criminal record and should be given a chance. Harper
argued the amount of marijuana and the damage it can do to young
people in society call for a tough sentence.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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