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A Virginia State Police investigation has led to a 21-count indictment against a Christiansburg lawyer for various forgery-related charges.
Gerard Raymond Marks of Blacksburg was indicted by a Montgomery County Grand Jury on Wednesday after investigators from the Virginia State Police presented their case. The indictment was unsealed Friday. Marks, whose office was located in Oak Tree Plaza in Christiansburg, was indicted on 10 counts of uttering or passing false legal documents to clients and others, seven counts of forging a public record with intent to defraud and four counts of forging the seal of a court or public office. According to court records, the alleged offenses took place between 1999 and 2007. It’s alleged that Marks forged several documents including two divorce decrees, two adoptions and land-use agreements involving Christiansburg developer Roger Woody. Marks first drew attention to himself last September when Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter issued an order barring Marks from practicing in the 27th Circuit, which includes the City of Radford and the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe. Judge Showalter’s order does not list the reason for the barring. This past December, the Virginia State Bar had suspended Marks’ license to practice law after he failed to comply with a duces tecum subpoena (an official request ordering a witness to appear and bring specified documents or records.) The case against Marks will be prosecuted by Joel Branscom, Botetourt County Commonwealth Attorney. Montgomery County Commonwealth Attorney Brad Finch recused himself. Branscom suggests that anyone who hired Marks between 1999 and 2007 should check with relevant courts to verify that their orders or legal documents were properly filed.
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Lafayette was a French aristocrat most famous for his participation in the American and French revolutions. Considered a national hero in both France and the US, he is one of only six people in history to have become an Honorary Citizen of the US. Lafayette is also credited with having created the modern French flag in July 1789. He lived in retirement in France during the First Empire, but returned to the US in 1824 to attend the inaugural banquet of what university?
