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Suspect in arson arrested -- again
Woes mounting for homeowner
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Forsyth County News

A woman charged with burning her house down in what authorities say was an insurance scheme may soon lose her freedom following her most recent arrest.

Pamela Morrow Graf, 47, was charged Tuesday by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office with driving under the influence of drugs. It was her second drug-related arrest this year and third since 2007.

Graf was released later that day from the Forsyth County Jail on $1,375 bond, a jail spokesman said.

Her release could be fleeting, a prosecutor said Friday.

“We will be trying to revoke her bond based on her recent arrest,” said Assistant District Attorney James Dunn, noting that a hearing has not been scheduled on the matter.

According to a sheriff’s report, a deputy and park ranger reported Tuesday that there was a “possible impaired driver” at Central Park. The investigating deputy found and arrested Graf, who refused a blood test and was taken to the jail without incident.

Attempts to reach Graf’s attorney, Richard Young, for comment were not successful.

Young has previously said that Graf “contends vigorously that she’s totally innocent" of the earlier charges.

Graf was arrested Feb. 3 and charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of Schedule 3 and Schedule 4 narcotics.

She was charged a few days later with first-degree arson in connection with the Jan. 18 blaze that destroyed her home on Lanier Drive in northeastern Forsyth.

Graf was released from jail March 2 after posting $57,871 bond on the drug charges and $30,371 on the arson. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey S. Bagley also required that she wear an ankle monitor.

During the March 2 hearing, Dunn told the court Graf has been indicted in Twiggs County on possession of cocaine charges from 2007. He said that case is pending.

Young told the court Graf had “substantial ties” to the state, including her parents and three children. He said she was in the process of arranging for joint custody of her children with her ex-husband before the fire.

Forsyth County Fire Marshal Steve Anderson said Friday that authorities are still “putting the pieces of the puzzle together” in the arson probe.

Authorities maintain Graf and her her boyfriend, Steve Edward Strobel of Barrow County, torched her house near Lake Lanier to commit insurance fraud.

Anderson said investigators continue sifting through paperwork and have filed court orders for more of Graf’s records.

They have not confirmed that Graf, a Barack Obama supporter, and Strobel were in Washington, D.C., for the presidential inauguration when the fire occurred.

Anderson said no charges have been filed in connection with the racist graffiti found on a fence along Graf’s property, though he thinks the fire and the writing are related.

Strobel was charged Feb. 3 with obstruction of justice and providing a false statement in connection with the fire. He was subsequently charged with arson in the first degree.

He was released Feb. 22 from the Forsyth County Jail after posting $27,610 bail.