Serial Litterer's Fate Escalates to Exile

Modaber did not return several phone calls or respond to messages left at his door. His obsession might never have come to light if two residents had not become fed up with the trash they kept finding near their homes.

According to court records in the county seat of Berryville, the trash began appearing about 1999.

At Modaber's first sentencing in 2000, Robert W. Smalley Jr., a businessman dedicated to keeping U.S. 340 litter-free, testified that he had found Modaber's name and address on a piece of paper among soup cans, banana peels, eggshells and a West Virginia newspaper. He took the trash to police.

Modaber pleaded guilty, paid a $500 fine and was sentenced to spend 140 hours picking up litter.

But he did not stop dumping his garbage on Virginia.

That kept John Crawford, an electrical contractor, on his trail.

While combing through the bags for clues, Crawford said, he found a letter addressed to "Dear Mr. Modaber" and two business cards for an over-fifties singles club in nearby Winchester.

So Crawford joined the club, mingling until someone pointed out Modaber. He attended 20 or 30 times in all, often following Modaber home hoping to catch him in the act.

Finally, his efforts paid off. After seeing Modaber remove trash bags from the rear of his Subaru station wagon and place them on the car seat, Crawford said, he contacted state Trooper Mark Campbell.

Campbell later testified that he was parked on an offramp along U.S. 340 when he saw Modaber pull his car to the shoulder, roll down his window and throw out a heap of green-bean cans, magazines and dog-food cans.

At his second court appearance, in 2001, Modaber pleaded guilty. Morrison fined him $1,000 and ordered him to spend 100 hours picking up litter.

But the littering continued, and Crawford was lying in wait.