Getting jail for junk

lot full of unlicensed cars could land a Cape Girardeau business owner behind bars.

Lester Sample has a history of zoning violations dating back to 1988. But it's his chronic failure to remove several dozen junked cars from his lot at 212 S. Spanish St. that has put him at risk of punishment.

Sample faces up to 90 days in the city jail for not clearing the lot outside Riverfront Auto. Ordinarily, such an offense does not warrant jail time, and police can't recall when anyone has ever been jailed over a zoning violation before. But municipal court officers have grown tired of Sample's procrastination, and a probation violation hearing is set for Thursday.

"Had this been a first incident, usually jail would not be a possibility," said city attorney Eric Cunningham. "But when it's gone on so long and a judge's order is disobeyed, jail time is definitely a possibility."

Sample, apparently doesn't take the threat seriously.

"The city ain't gonna send nobody to jail," he said Friday afternoon. "They ain't gonna send me to jail."

A phone message for his attorney, Francis Siebert, went unreturned as of late Friday.

The weedy Spanish Street lot stretches back to Aquamsi Street and is filled with damaged cars, scrap parts and stack upon stack of old tires.

Riverfront Auto sits in the middle of a mostly residential area of apartments and homes. It is also in a light industrial work zone, making most of the work Sample does perfectly legal -- fixing and selling cars. But it's the salvage work -- storing unlicensed cars in the open -- that's gotten him into trouble.

In March 2000, Sample asked the city council for a special use permit to operate a scrap iron recycling business, L&S Wrecking, at 503 Maple in a heavy industrial district. To get the permit, he agreed to move the cars on Spanish Street to Maple Street within six months of receiving a business license for L&S.

The council granted the permit, but then-councilman Tom Neumeyer voted against it. He received many complaints from his Ward 2 contituents about the Spanish Street property during his years on the council and didn't see any improvements coming out of the agreement.

Current Ward 2 councilman Charlie Herbst agreed.

"We've given him more than enough chances to fix the problem," Herbst said.

According to a report prepared for the council by Cunningham, two years passed before Sample obtained a license in March 2002. Cunningham represents the city but prosecutor Reagan Holliday is handling the case in municipal court. She contacted Sample about every five weeks over the next six months to check on the vehicle removal.

Since 1988, Sample has been found guilty of five city zoning violations for illegally doing salvage work at Riverfront Auto. The most recent charge was filed Oct. 11, and in February he received two years probation for failing to remove the cars. Municipal Judge Kimberly Price told Sample the only conditions of the probation were that he obey all laws and move the cars within 60 days.

That never happened.

When she saw him again in April, she gave him yet another week to move them or face jail time. Again, he failed to move the cars.

In fact, to many it appears that Sample has taken in even more junked cars.

Now, it's less than a week from the probation violation hearing and jail time looks likely, Cunningham said.

"It's obviously up to the judge, but I understand that jail is the prosecutor's recommendation," Cunningham said. "He has apparently told her he was not going to do it and that he would not comply with an order of the court."

If Sample does serve jail time, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be motivated to move the cars afterward.

Cunningham didn't know if the council would seek to have the city remove the cars and then charge Sample for the expense.

"We don't usually make it a practice to go on a person's private property," he said. "We have not looked into that as a possibility."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160