Former Sheriff Sentenced for Racketeering Activities
Daniel Presgraves Will Spend 19 Months in Prison

HARRISONBURG, VA—The former Sheriff of Page County, Virginia will spend the next several years in a federal prison after being sentenced this morning in the United States District Court for his involvement in racketeering activity.

Daniel W. Presgraves, 47, a resident of Luray, Virginia, was sentenced to 19 months of federal incarceration and ordered to forfeit $75,000 for his admitted role in a pattern of racketeering activities.

Presgraves was indicted in October 2008, in a 22-count indictment and charged with a multitude of charges. In August 2009, the former sheriff pled guilty to one count of racketeering, admitting to specific acts of racketeering contained in the indictment.

Specifically, the defendant admitted to attempting to persuade certain former employees of the Page County Sheriff’s Office, and their families, from speaking to Federal authorities about his illegal activity. Presgraves also admitted that he improperly used inmates from the Page County Jail, which as sheriff was under his supervision, to perform unapproved personal and commercial tasks at his home and in relation to his business as a contractor. This illegal labor was used by the defendant for both personal and financial gain.

United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy announced the results of the Presgraves case and broadly discussed the United States Attorney’s Office’s effort to investigate public corruption in a press conference held today. A transcript of his remarks are attached.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.