January 21 – The first Monongalia County grand jury of 2023 returned 106 indictments, significantly lower than the 150 indicted in September 2022.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but a formal felony charge issued by a grand jury that says there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to warrant a trial.
Defendants go on to fight charges ranging from murder and malicious assault to fraud, with the most common charges being drug-related, domestic assault, sexual assault or abuse, DUI and theft.
Last week’s grand jury was the last for Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher, who will soon be sworn in to her new position as a circuit court judge.
“The fact that the January 2023 Grand Jury was the last one I’ll be serving as a prosecutor after 25 years in Monongalia County makes me a little sad,” DeChristopher said, “but looking back on the past 75 grand jury proceedings in which I. has participated, I am very proud of what I have accomplished at the Prosecutor’s Office,” he said.
The following individuals have been charged and are now continuing their cases in Monongalia County Circuit Court as prosecutors work to convict them.
– Benton, Denita, burglary, battery, destruction of property – Lincoln, John Ralph, grand larceny, petit larceny, two counts breaking and entering a vehicle, destruction of property – Moats, Jesse L., obtaining money by false pretenses – Melkus, Caleb M., DUI with injury, leaving the scene of an accident, DUI-1st offense – Hinzman, James M., transferring stolen property – Plavi, Lawrence M., breaking and entering, vehicle tampering, possession of a substance controlled – Houston, Todd, breaking and entering, two counts Grand larceny – Amos, Javonn Patrick, strangulation, unlawful restraint – Coston, Joseph Isaiah, reckless endangerment involving a firearm, possession of a controlled substance – Saunders, Kali Rose , fraudulent scheme, two counts uttering – Saunders, Jason Devon, first degree theft – Courtwright, Thomas E., first degree theft, conspiracy, reckless endangerment – Courtwright, Gary J., first degree theft, conspiracy, reckless endangerment danger, battery – Ellison, Debra Lou ise, DUI – 3rd or subsequent – Pauley Jr., Rosell K., suffocation, violation of protective order – Estle, Edward Allen, shoplifting – 3rd or subsequent offense – Dudley III, Charles E., two counts possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance – Meredith, Blair H., breaking and entering, petit larceny – Gooden, Matthew B., domestic battery – 3rd or subsequent offense – Stutzman, William, obtaining money by false pretenses – Young, Warren B., three counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Coles, Cherokee C., three counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Horne, Keith E., two counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substance, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – DePriest, Ashley N., delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance – Boyd, Darnell M., possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance – Ramsey, Wesley Scott, two counts malicious assault, wanton endangerment involving a firearm – Ramsey, Edward Joseph, two counts malicious assault , reckless endangerment involving a firearm – Hall, Donald, possession of sexually explicit material by minors – Riley Jr., Todd William, first degree arson – Bookshar, Brian Matthew, grand larceny, conspiracy – Miller, David Michael, grand larceny, conspiracy – McCargo, Nyqwan, attempted murder, first degree malicious assault – Shugars, Rebecca R Shoplifting – 3rd or subsequent offense – Powell, Tyele A., intimidation of a witness – Kovacs, Jack C., malicious assault, battery – Pauley Jr., Rosell K., strangulation, domestic battery, DUI – 2nd offense – Richison, Rebecca G., shoplifting – 3rd or subsequent offense – Nelson, Jack D., conspiracy – Mayfield, Max, pu sex of material of minor in sexually explicit conduct – Williams, Chance A., first degree murder – Jones, Nathaniel S., value. ss check felony – Daye, Irron L., three counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Sargent, Tasharka aka “Phill”, three counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances , conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Mount, Wendell J., three counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Collett, Dakota A., distribution or display to minors of sexually explicit material – Watkins, Danielle D., malicious assault – Barb, Norman P., possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Ponceroff, Jenny J., possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit a felony drug offense – Stroop, Thomas Craig, access device fraud – Tucker, Robert James, three counts of domestic battery assault, destruction of property – Richards, Owen C., unlawful manufacture or possession of an incendiary device, false report concerning explosives – Ebaugh, Joshua J., breaking and entering – Moats Jr., Rodney A., first degree arson , gross neglect of child with risk of injury, domestic assault, interfering with emergency communications – Dudley III, Charles E., possession with intent to distribute controlled substances – Massey, Trabon A., malicious assault, grand larceny – Rowe, Seth, grand larceny, petit larceny, access device fraud, attempted access device fraud, battery on a law enforcement officer, obstructing. – Thompson Jr., Adam D., child abuse with injury, two counts domestic battery – McCoy, Christopher D., three counts access device fraud – Allen II, David D., burglary, petit larceny – Ford Sr., Terry L. , Transferring stolen property – Jones, Briar D., breaking and entering, grand larceny, destruction of property – Grimm, Monica L., shoplifting – 3rd or subsequent offense – Mullenax, Christopher Brian, grand larceny – Selman, Travis L., two counts receiving stolen property – Latham, Rashad S., possession with intent to distribute controlled substances – Gober, Blake B., theft of a rental vehicle, grand larceny – McCardle, Adam S., malicious wounding – Johnson, Ronald T., two counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances – Benbow, William W., three counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances – Koval, Jeremy D., DUI – 3rd or later – Stewart, Rodney A., four counts sexual abuse of a minor by parent or guardian hours, two counts sexual assault, two counts child neglect – Stewart, Michele, two counts child neglect – Afolabi, Tomiwa S., first degree sexual abuse, second degree sexual assault – Afolabi, Tomiwa S., second degree sexual assault – Sneed, Eric A., first degree murder, wanton endangerment, unlawful possession of a firearm – Dudley III, Charles E., burglary, petit larceny, destruction of property – Piper, Brady J ., access device fraud, conspiracy – Trump, Jonathan M., possession with intent to distribute controlled substances – Harris, Nathaniel B., fraudulent scheme, conspiracy – Shuttlesworth, Anthony M., kidnapping – Efaw, Marion, receiving or transfer of stolen goods, conspiracy – Murray, Raymond W., receiving or transferring stolen goods, conspiracy – Fenske, Amber D., embezzlement – Estle, Edward A., three counts of access device fraud, attempted fraud of the access device ssu – Huntley Jr., Kenneth Leslie, DUI – 3rd or subsequent, driving while license suspended – DUI – 3rd or subsequent, falsifying a public record – Allen, Stephanie A., two counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances , unlawful possession of a firearm – Shaffer, Thomas R., possession with intent to distribute controlled substance – Hartley, Kaleb A., grand larceny – Johnson, Ricky R., concealment of stolen property – Guthrie, Eric L. , reckless endangerment, domestic battery, domestic assault – Burton, Kaitlin Michelle, falsifying a public record – Lambert III, Robert Franklin, burglary, domestic assault, criminal destruction of property – Mayle, James W., three counts sexual assault of a minor by a parent or guardian, two counts sexual assault, two counts incest – Jones, Nathaniel, obtaining property in exchange for a worthless check, fraudulent scheme – Plavi, Lawrence M., breaking and entering, petit larceny, wounding or tampering with a vehicle – Plavi, Lawrence M., breaking and entering, petit larceny, damaging or tampering with a vehicle – Fennell, Elijah Marquis, two counts possession with intent to distribute controlled substances – Kessler, Elizabeth D., burglary, battery – Rogers , Logan Andrew, breaking and entering, grand larceny – Cunningham, Justin David, DUI – 3rd or subsequent – Howard, Cody Ray, breaking and entering, unlawful taking of a vehicle, criminal destruction of property, misdemeanor destruction of property – Paugh III , Larry Allen, theft – Brannon, Spencer, malicious assault – Lehman, Raymond, driving while license suspended – DUI – 3 or later – Quick-Borgard, Charity, illegal voting – Quick-Borgard, Michael, illegal voting