[MSN] Cemetery vandal sentenced. Elizabeth Benchley, director of the Archaeology Institute at UWF, called the sentence "appropriate'' in view of the "pretty egregious'' damage.

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Published - June, 21, 2006  

Cemetery vandal sentenced
Woodard receives 10 years for damage to St. Michael's


Kristen Rasmussen
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Repairs at the historic St. Michael's Cemetery in downtown Pensacola still
are under way, nearly five months after a man admitted to vandalizing at
least 25 graves in his quest for jewelry to sell for cocaine.

Greg Allen Woodard, 24, who caused thousands of dollars of damage in
January, was sentenced last week to 10 years in state prison.

Circuit Judge Frank Bell could have sentenced Woodard to anywhere from a
maximum of 150 years in prison to a minimum of 15 months. He pleaded guilty
to two counts of disturbing the contents of a tomb, 23 counts of injuring a
tomb and one count each of burglary of an unoccupied structure and petty
theft.

"Ten years in state prison sends a strong message that our community will
not tolerate this kind of behavior," said University of West Florida
archaeologist Margo Stringfield, a member of the cemetery foundation board.
"I am very pleased he is being punished for the enormous amount of damage he
did to our community."

Elizabeth Benchley, director of the Archaeology Institute at UWF, called the
sentence "appropriate'' in view of the "pretty egregious'' damage.

"We've had vandalism before where young people have tipped over things, but
this young man went way beyond that," she said.

Stringfield said volunteers, including members of the cemetery foundation,
local U.S. Marines and UWF students, have worked consistently since January
to complete modest repairs, such as replacing marble slabs.

A team of historic preservation masons from Massachusetts is scheduled to
arrive next month to repair the more heavily damaged areas, including two
mausolea, Stringfield said.

In one, marble was broken, exposing two caskets. In the other, marble was
destroyed and a casket vandalized.

The team's project, which will cost about $30,000, is expected to take about
a month, Stringfield said.

Woodard told Pensacola police he jumped a fence at the locked cemetery about
1:30 a.m. on Jan. 24. He said he hid in a cemetery maintenance shed until
about 9:40 a.m. when he walked out an open gate.

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