Pinellas in brief

Man gets 18 months for embezzling pension fund

TAMPA -- A Clearwater man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $44,000 from his company's pension fund plan.

A federal jury found James E. Strother, 51, guilty after a trial in November. U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew sentenced him Thursday and also ordered him to pay $44,543 to 16 former employees who had been participating in the benefit plan.

Prosecutors said Strother embezzled the money from the pension plan of Personnel Services of North Carolina, a now-defunct corporation he had once owned and operated. Strother depleted the fund, then used the money for his own purposes, prosecutors said.

Woman gets probation for holiday theft

CLEARWATER -- One half of a husband-wife homeless couple taken in by a Clearwater man on Christmas Eve has been sentenced to probation on charges that she stole the good Samaritan's van.

Venus J. Dixon, 43, and her husband, James S. Dixon, 49, were taken into the home of Earnest Green on Christmas Eve. Green was driving home when he saw the couple outside bundled in coats. He invited them to stay the night and celebrate the holiday with him.

But when Green woke up the next morning, the Dixons were gone.

So was Green's van, $80 in cash and his lone Christmas present, a pocket knife from a fishing buddy that he kept under the tree. So, too, was a set of crystal angels his wife kept on the coffee table and the food in his freezer.

Police later arrested the Dixons, who both blamed the other for thinking of the crime.

Venus Dixon on Friday pleaded no contest to charges of burglary and grand theft auto. She also pleaded no contest to charges of drug possession and resisting arrest.

She was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.

Her husband is still awaiting trial. He has a pretrial hearing set for Monday.

Bacteria from heavy rain shut down beach again

CLEARWATER -- For the third time in the past three months, health department and city officials are closing the Courtney Campbell Parkway beach because of high levels of bacteria in the water.

This closing comes as Clearwater braces for spring break, set to begin its major push in about a week.

Heavy rains a few weeks ago and the runoff that followed were major contributors to the high bacteria levels, said Paul Stanek, Healthy Beaches Manager for the county health department.

The tests are a five-week average of the bacteria levels. The beach will remain closed, and the gate locked, until at least Wednesday. Health officials will re-test on Tuesday, but rains predicted for this weekend probably won't help the dangerous bacteria levels, Stanek said.

"We're going to have to have a fairly good reading to open it back up," Stanek said.

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