Perverted former HS softball coach peeved by huge fine

ondeadline · Apr 4, 2007

This is the kind of guy you want coaching high school girls softball, huh? Oh, and this guy in North Carolina also used to be a police officer

Man who videotaped tanning salon customers loses appeal
BY BETH VELLIQUETTE : The Herald-Sun
bvelliquette@heraldsun.com
Apr 3, 2007 : 7:34 pm ET

HILLSBOROUGH -- In his continuing quest to avoid having to pay a stiff fine for secretly videotaping women and girls as they undressed at his Hillsborough tanning salon, Billy Apple has lost an appeal to the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Apple, a former Durham police officer and girls softball coach, entered into a plea agreement with the Orange County District Attorney's Office in May 2004 that allowed him to escape having to serve any time in prison as long as did not violate the conditions of his probation.

But Superior Court Judge Wade Barber surprised the state and defense attorneys by imposing a total of $64,000 in fines on Apple.

Apple appealed that ruling, and the N.C. Court of Appeals sent his case back to Orange County Superior Court for resentencing. But Superior Court Judge Henry V. Barnette again gave him a $64,000 fine, although he used a different method to impose it.

Apple then appealed that sentence. The N.C. Court of Appeals issued a ruling Tuesday that said Barnette did not err when he imposed the fine.

Apple, through his attorney, Amos Tyndall of Chapel Hill, argued among other things that the court violated statutory and constitutional prohibitions against excessive fines. First, the court said that the defendant did not preserve his constitutional objections to his resentencing and failed to present an argument as to plain error in his brief to the court.

"Even if this matter were properly before us, we would find no error was committed by the trial court on this issues," the decision stated.

"Defendant pled guilty to charges that amounted to a serious breach of the trust of his tanning booth customers, as well as his position in the community as a high school coach and former police officer," the decision went on. "Moreover the trial court heard extensive statements from victims as to how the secret videotaping had negatively impacted their lives.

"Under such circumstances, as well as the fact that the Defendant also profited from the victims while videotaping them, we would decline to find that the amount of the fine imposed was an abuse of discretion."

Neither Tyndall nor Barry Winston, who was Apple's original attorney, returned calls for asking for comment.

Judge James A. Wynn Jr. wrote the decision, and judges Robert Hunter and Sanford Steelman Jr. concurred.
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Ace · Apr 4, 2007

Maybe he was just investigating the "shaven or unshaven" question for the media guide.

I don't see a problem.

ondeadline · Apr 4, 2007

It's not mentioned in this story, but he gave his high school softball players coupons for discounts to his tanning salon.

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Perverted former HS softball coach peeved by huge fine

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