One of two men charged with abducting the wife of U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) from her McLean home pleaded guilty yesterday under an agreement with prosecutors that he will serve 15 years in prison.
Christopher L. Forbes, 33, pleaded guilty in Fairfax County Circuit Court to robbery and abduction in the Oct. 7 incident. His alleged accomplice, Michael Pierre, 26, of Upper Marlboro, is expected to plead guilty to the same charges next week, said Julie Mitchell, an assistant commonwealth's attorney. Forbes has no fixed address.
Neither Kathleen M. Gregg nor her husband attended yesterday's hearing in Judge Michael P. McWeeny's court. They declined to make a public statement, said a spokesman for the senator.
Had the case gone to trial, Kathleen Gregg was prepared to testify about her experience that day when two intruders burst into her house, tied her up and stole cash and other valuables, then forced her at knifepoint to withdraw money from her bank, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said Gregg's ordeal started when she was seated at her breakfast table and heard footsteps in the garage. Checking the source of the noise, she saw two men.
Gregg dashed toward her front door, hitting her hip on a cabinet knob, but the intruders caught up with her and forced her to the floor, then bound her hands with her husband's neckties, Mitchell said. The prosecutor said Pierre was "acting crazy" and threatened to rape and kill Gregg.
Forbes stayed with Gregg while Pierre ransacked the house, scooping up cash and silverware as well as a $30,000 diamond ring she was wearing, according to Mitchell.
Mitchell said that Forbes told Gregg, "The other guy is crazy; you'd better do what he says."
In an attempt to improve her chances of survival by being in public, Gregg persuaded them to accompany her to a bank to withdraw more money.
Pierre drove to a Wachovia branch on Chain Bridge Road in the Gregg family Mercedes, holding a knife to Gregg's neck, and Forbes followed in a silver car that had been stolen during a burglary in Franconia, Mitchell said. Forbes waited outside while Pierre and Gregg entered the bank, she said.
Gregg wrote out a check for $5,000, and handed $4,000 of it to Pierre before seizing the chance to flee through a back door.
Mitchell said Pierre ran out the front door, smashing a pane of glass as he fled. Forbes and Pierre were arrested two days later in New Jersey after unwittingly driving into an undercover drug surveillance.
In the car, police found a silver platter, jewelry, golf clubs and other valuables belonging to the Greggs, Mitchell said.
Gregg described Pierre as "scary and violent" and said he gave the impression he was under the influence of drugs, Mitchell said.
"Forbes seemed to be in charge," she added. "He appeared to be the mastermind."
Dawn Butorac, Forbes's attorney, said her client took issue with some of the details. She said Forbes claims Pierre alone tied Gregg's hands and brandished a knife during the entire incident. Forbes said he was unarmed, Butorac said, and he also disputed Gregg's characterization of him as the mastermind.
"It was a collaborative effort," she said. "It was an unplanned event when they came across Mrs. Gregg in the home."
Butorac described Forbes's criminal record of larcenies and forgeries as "what you would expect a drug addict" to have.
Forbes could have faced up to two life sentences. Under the terms of the agreement, he will serve 15 years that will run concurrently with sentences for pending cases in New Jersey, Arlington County and Alexandria.
The Alexandria and Arlington charges arise from two separate incidents.
In one, an Arlington woman caught two men trying to open her locked sliding glass door. In the other, an Alexandria jogger ran away from two men who approached her and announced they were robbing her.
