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Three defendants plead guilty, are sentenced

By Staff | Jan 22, 2014

Three defendants pleaded guilty and received punishments from Judge Mark A. Karl in Tyler County Circuit Court Thursday.

Maverick Stewart, 21, of 243 N. Wells St., Sistersville, pleaded guilty to counts three and six of his six-count indictment handed down by the October Tyler County grand jury.

Through a plea agreement, Stewart withdrew his former plea of not guilty to the charges of daytime burglary and grand larceny. Stewart was represented by attorney Thomas White who was sitting in for Kevin Neiswonger.

Stewart said in open court that he broke into the home of Una Henderson on Aug. 2 and stole her jewelry. He also said that on Aug. 4 he broke into the home of Rebecca Ferrebee and stole large amounts of change and currency.

If the case were to proceed to trial, Prosecutor Luke Furbee said his office had been contacted with an inquiry wanting to know if there had been any recent thefts. He was told that an individual was at Kroger’s in Moundsville cashing in large amounts of change at their change machine. It was also discovered that a garbage can at Kroger’s had a gumball machine thrown away in it. The gumball machine fit the description of one that was missing, full of change, from Ferrebee’s house. Also, through the investigation, most of the jewelry was recovered.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Judge Karl sentenced Stewart to be confined to not less than six months nor more than two years on each count, to run concurrently. His time is to be served at the Anthony Center for Youthful Offenders.

If he is successful in completing his time there, he will be brought back to court and be sentenced to two years supervised probation. If he fails at the Anthony Center, he will be sentenced to not less than one nor more than 10 years on each count, in the West Virginia Penitentiary for Men.

As part of the plea agreement, he must also make restitution to Henderson and Ferrebee and pay all costs of his prosecution.

Stewart did not request drug or alcohol counseling or treatment. He was ordered to be transferred to the Anthony Center to begin serving his time and to release him from the charge of Tyler County.

His other four counts-two counts of daytime burglary, one count of grand larceny, and one misdemeanor count of petit larceny-were dismissed.

Also, John K. Lively, 33, of 52176 Co. Rd, 425 lot 44, Fresno, Ohio, pleaded guilty plea to the felony offense of obtaining money under false pretenses.

Judge Karl told Lively to explain to the court what he did to make him guilty of the crime. Lively said he entered into a contract to build a pole building for Gary Davis and took a $7,895 down payment to purchase materials. He said he cashed the check and never returned.

Prosecutor Luke Furbee said his evidence, if it had gone to trail, would show that on May 9, 2012, Lively was operating a business known as Lively Builders. He entered into a contract to build a pole building for Davis at a cost of $15,790, of which $7,895 was tendered by check as down payment for materials. The check was cashed by Lively and he never came back to perform the work or bring materials. Furbee said Davis had contacted his office when Lively never returned and he was unable to reach him by phone. He also said Davis had made several trips to try and locate Lively and did some investigative work of his own.

Furbee also said that the record would show Lively had similar offenses in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Judge Karl sentenced Lively to one to 10 years in the West Virginia Penitentiary for Men with credit for time served. As part of the plea agreement he will serve six months and, providing he has no write ups, he will be placed on two years supervised probation. He must also pay the cost of his prosecution and make restitution in the amount of $7,895 to Davis. He was ordered to pay payments of $338 per month until it is paid in full.

Lively’s attorney told the court that on Feb. 12 Lively will have served six months. Karl remanded Lively back to jail until Feb. 12, at which time he will appear back in court to address the probation issue.

Finally, Raymond Lee Smith, 24, of Middlebourne, entered a guilty plea to the felony offense of grand larceny to have occurred on Nov. 12 in Tyler County. Smith was in court on Thursday with his attorney, Public Defender John Gainer. Smith testified that he did enter into a dwelling belonging to Lorie D. Staley by removing a window air conditioner. He took a Sentry safe and used a wood splitter to break it open. He then took several different bottles of medications belonging to his own family members. Smith had been indicted by the October 2013 term of the Tyler County grand jury on three counts of felony nighttime burglary, felony grand larceny, and misdemeanor destruction of property.

Prosecutor Furbee offered basically the same information, saying the sheriff’s office had been notified of a burglary and theft at a home on Ten Mile. An officer from the sheriff’s department went to investigate, speaking to two witnesses who identified Smith as the individual who had committed the crimes. If the case was to go to trial, that would be the evidence used, along with the testimony of the investigating officer.

Karl then sentenced Smith to one to 10 years in the West Virginia Penitentiary for Men with credit for time served. The sentence was then suspended and he was placed on two years supervised probation. Counts one and two of his indictment were dismissed. Smith also requested drug and alcohol counseling; he was ordered to enter into the Tyler County Drug Court. He is to make restitution to the victims Lorie D. Staley, Mark Lewis Staley, and Charles P. Morgan, and to pay the costs of his prosecution. He must also abide my all the rules and regulations of his probation. He was ordered to be released and to report to Chief Probation officer John Lantz.