Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Lupo's

A member of the Rockingham County Attorney's Office told Hampton-North Hampton Patch on Tuesday that the against the defunct have been dropped and the case won't go to trial.

Geoffrey Ward, the prosecutor overseeing the case, couldn't be reached for comment to elaborate, although Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams told the Hampton Union in a story printed Wednesday that prosecutors notified the court of the decision to drop the charges on June 19.

Reams reportedly told the Union witness "availability problems" were the reason behind the decision to drop the charges, and that they "were really not in a position to ask the court to continue it given all the other cases" and the fact that the case "has languished" since 2010.

During that time, Michael Lupo, the owner of the now-defunct business, has withdrawn from multiple plea deals and asked for trials.

"There is no doubt the system can be played a little bit. It's unfortunate that we didn't get to put this case in front of a jury,” Reams reportedly told the paper. ”But in the grand scheme of things, there are a lot more pressing cases, and we had to look at that.”