Greene court cases
WAYNESBURG – The following criminal defendants appeared recently in Greene County Court:
Roy A. Baker, 62, of 207 Stagecoach Road, Nemacolin, sentenced Aug. 29 by Judge Lou Dayich; charges – driving under the influence of alcohol, endangering the welfare of a child, a summary traffic violation; stopped Dec. 4, Baker had a blood-alcohol content of 0.220 percent; his granddaughter was a passenger in the vehicle; Baker was convicted of the charges by a jury May 23; sentence – 5 years in the county intermediate punishment program, which includes nine days in jail, with credit for time served; nine months of electronic home and alcohol monitoring and an additional 14 months of alcohol monitoring; home monitoring to begin following completion of alcohol rehabilitation, $1,025 in fines, 60 hours of community service.
Paul Fred Kiger, 51, of 435 Dutch Run Road, Waynesburg; found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol in a nonjury trial Aug. 29 before Dayich; sentence – 72 hours to 6 months in jail, $1,000 fine, 40 hours of community service; Kiger was permitted to remain free on bail, after the judge ruled his sentence would not become effective until his appeal process is resolved; arrested following a traffic stop June 20, 2017, Kiger had a blood-alcohol content of 0.206 percent.
Ricky Nelson Richter, 52, of 513 ½ Elk St., Gassaway, W.Va.; offenses – pleaded guilty Sept. 5 before Judge Farley Toothman to loitering or prowling and criminal mischief; a charge of burglary was withdrawn; on Feb. 26, 2016, Richter broke into St. Hugh’s Church in Carmichaels and attempted to remove money from a donation box: sentence – time served, calculated to be at least 145 days, to 23 ½ months in jail.; $49 in restitution to the church.
Christopher M. Swaney, 46, of 211 Hill St., New Salem; offenses – pleaded guilty Sept. 5 before Dayich to two counts of retail theft and one count of receiving stolen property; on Dec. 14, Swaney stole an insert from a magazine at the Sheetz store in Cumberland Township; on Dec. 16, he stole $38.98 worth of candy from the same store; sentence – two years in the county intermediate punishment program to include 60 days of house arrest followed by 22 months of supervision.
Olivia A. Stohon, 36, of 138 A Street, Teagarden Homes, Clarksville; pleaded no contest Sept. 11 before Dayich to insurance fraud; she failed to list her fiancé, a DUI-suspended driver, as a resident of her household; on April 4, 2017, the fiancé wrecked her vehicle; sentence – two years of probation, $100 fine, 50 hours of community service.
Tyron T. Adams, 24, of 47 Clear Springs Drive, Morgantown, W.Va., pleaded guilty Sept. 11 before Dayich to fleeing or attempting to elude police, providing false identification, possession of a small amount of marijuana, speeding; Adams failed to stop for police on Interstate 79 Jan. 19 after being observed driving 95 mph; eventually another police vehicle was able to pull in front of him and force him to stop; sentence – 75 days to 18 months in jail, credit for 66 days served; $882.50 in fines, 40 hours of community service.
Jeffrey Christopher Speer, 31, of 135 Hodge Ave., Rices Landing; pleaded guilty Sept. 12 before Dayich to six counts each of delivery, possession with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance, and one count of criminal use of a communications facility; six times between April and June 2015, Speer sold heroin to an undercover drug task force member in amounts ranging from 10 to 22 stamp bags per sale; sentence – 16 to 72 months in prison, $870 in restitution to the task force; the court determined Speer was eligible for the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program, which could reduce his minimum to 12 months.
Jason Allen Toland, 26, of 104 N. Factory St., Clarksville; pleaded guilty Sept. 11 before Dayich to simple assault and harassment; on June 30, he assaulted another man at his home; sentence – time served, from July 2 to July 18, to 1 year in jail, 60 hours of community service.
Manuel Joseph Bendana, 25, of 670 Hornbeck Road, Morgantown, W.Va., pleaded guilty Sept. 12 before Dayich in two separate cases to one count each of fleeing or attempting to elude police and driving under the influence of a controlled substance, two counts each of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and numerous traffic violations; a charge of contraband was withdrawn; Bendana failed to stop his vehicle for police Feb. 18 and was later apprehended after fleeing on foot; he was in possession of controlled substances including amphetamines, methamphetamine and fentanyl, and was under the influence of heroin; on Feb. 20, he was arrested at the jail for possession of Suboxone and Xanax; sentence – 3 years in the county intermediate punishment program to include 90 days in jail, credit for time served from Feb. 19 to 28; Bendana was released to inpatient addiction treatment that will be credited to his jail sentence; $1,600 in fines.