By JAY CONLEY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Archives Reprint

   The fraud trial for the former president of the debt-plagued National D-Day Memorial Foundation has been postponed until December.

    The U.S. District Court in Lynchburg confirmed Monday that Richard Burrow's Sept. 3 trial on four fraud charges has been continued to Dec. 9.

    Burrow's attorney, John Lichtenstein, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Hogeboom have been negotiating for weeks to agree on a new court date that would suit both sides, according to Lichtenstein.

    Hogeboom said the three-day trial scheduled for next week was too short a time to present the documents and witnesses in the case. He said that date was set merely to satisfy the speedy trial law. Under that law, a person charged with a crime must have a trial within 70 days.

    "At the outset we had recognized that this was a five-day trial," Hogeboom said Monday. The trial is now scheduled to run from Dec. 9 to 13.

    Burrow agreed to the new court date in order to allow Lichtenstein more time to pour through an estimated 10,000 pages of documents turned over to him by the U.S. Attorney's office, Lichtenstein said. He added that he had received some of those documents just last week.

    Burrow, 55, of Roanoke, pleaded not guilty in June to charges of bank fraud, loan application fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. The charges arise from millions of dollars in state grants and a bank loan he acquired to build the $25 million memorial in Bedford.

    The memorial pays tribute to the sacrifices of American and Allied World War II soldiers who participated in the June 6, 1944, invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

    None of the charges alleges that Burrow used the money for personal gain, but federal prosecutors say his reputation as a fund-raiser was bolstered by the grants and the loan.

    Burrow resigned about a month after the memorial opened on June 6, 2001, citing heath reasons. Four months later, William McIntosh, the foundation's interim president, disclosed that he had requested a criminal investigation after learning the foundation was behind in paying $5 million to the architect and contractors who built the memorial.

    Two lawsuits for back payment of expenses have been filed against the foundation.

    Bob Archer, president of Blue Ridge Beverage Co. and the spokesman for the Friends of Richard Burrow Legal Defense Fund, said fund-raising efforts will continue.

    "We're going to continue doing what we can do," Archer said.

    Earlier this month, Archer said the fund had raised close to $100,000. Since then, he said donations are still coming in from around the state.

    "I'm pleased to say it's making steady progress," Archer said.

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