Alford Plea

A Williamsport man charged with kidnapping his former girlfriend from The Improved Order of Red Men Club in Williamsport last April entered an Alford plea to the charge Monday in Washington County Circuit Court. Jeremy S. Keadle, 30, formerly of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, had asked for a jury trial when he appeared in court Monday morning, but after a jury was selected, he returned from a brief recess to say he wanted to enter a plea. Keadle repeatedly answered, “Yes, sir,” as Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. asked a number of questions to confirm whether Keadle was comfortable entering the plea.

A Clear Spring man convicted earlier this year for a sexual offense against a girl entered an Alford plea Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court to a sexual offense against the girl's sister. James Weller Sr., 56, formerly of 14402 Mercersburg Road, had been convicted in a May trial before Judge Donald E. Beachley of attempted third-degree sex offense and second-degree assault. He was sentenced at that time to seven years in prison with four years suspended, court records said.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., man accused of shooting a couple twice in the head at their home in November 2009 entered an Alford plea Friday to two counts of second-degree attempted murder and two counts of malicious assault. Donald Mark “Donnie” Seibert Jr., 24, faces a sentence of six to 26 years in prison, according to the terms of a plea agreement reached between Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Timothy D. Helman and Seibert's attorney, Matthew Harvey. Two counts of malicious assault, along with single counts of grand larceny and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in other pending cases were dismissed Friday by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge John C. Yoder, who accepted the plea agreement and scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 11. Seibert could be ordered to serve a one- to three-year sentence for each attempted murder conviction and a two- to 10-year sentence for each malicious assault conviction, Helman said.

A Pennsylvania man faces a possible state prison sentence after he entered an Alford plea Thursday to negligent manslaughter by vehicle in the death of a Williamsport man last summer. Stephen James Bonafede, 27, of Mountville, Pa., also entered Alford pleas to two counts of causing life-threatening injuries in a July 24 crash on Eastern Boulevard near Security Road. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but is an acknowledgment that the state has enough evidence to gain a conviction.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge Tuesday suspended the sentence of a Hagerstown teenager after he entered an Alford plea to second-degree assault in the robbery of a convenience store. Judge John H. McDowell suspended a 10-year sentence for Eric Shaquille Baymon, 18, of 411 S. Potomac St., but gave him three years of probation, according to court records. Baymon had been charged with armed robbery, robbery, assault, reckless endangerment and firearms violations in the Feb. 20 robbery of Nadia's Convenience Store at the corner of North Prospect and West Franklin streets in Hagerstown.

A Hagerstown man serving 15 months in jail on charges from a 2010 fatal accident entered an Alford plea Tuesday in Washington County District Court to a charge stemming from a Memorial Day incident at his home. Cory Scott Kuczynski, 26, of 17544 Gay St., entered the plea to a charge of failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order from a law enforcement officer, and was fined $100 by Judge James Vaughn, attorney D. Benson Thompson III said after the hearing. Related charges of second-degree assault, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct were dismissed, he said.

A former Hancock man entered an Alford plea Tuesday to disorderly conduct in connection with causing a disturbance at Washington County Courthouse in April. Berkeley Springs, W.Va., resident David Leroy Creek Sr., 47, whose address at the time of his arrest was 109 E. Main St. in Hancock, entered the plea before Circuit Judge Frederick C. Wright III, who ordered Creek to serve three years of probation. Wright suspended a 60-day jail sentence, the maximum sentence for a conviction on the charge.

A Hagerstown man entered an Alford plea Friday to a charge of solicitation to intimidate a witness, with the state agreeing to dismiss a more serious allegation that he tried to solicit someone to have the witness murdered. Louis Geraldo Gonzalez, 28, who is serving a 20-year state prison sentence for armed robbery, was sentenced to a concurrent 20-year sentence by Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. Long suspended all but four years of the sentence in the witness intimidation case. The witness the state alleged Gonzalez wanted to silence was Bruce Allen Jones, the man shot in the January 2009 robbery for which Gonzalez is serving the armed robbery sentence, according to the grand jury indictment.

An 18-year-old Hagerstown man charged in a February armed home invasion entered an Alford plea Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 15 months in the county detention center. Curtis Evans, of 916 Lanvale St., was 17 years old when the incident occurred Feb. 26 in the 900 block of Main Avenue, according to the application for statement of charges filed by Hagerstown police. He was scheduled to be in court for a hearing to determine whether his case should be transferred to juvenile court.

The mother of a 2-month-old boy who died in December 2010 from blunt force trauma to the head in Berkeley County has agreed to enter an Alford plea to gross neglect of a child resulting in death, according to the prosector. Jessica Lynn Skupnick, 23, would not be admitting guilt by entering an Alford plea, but still would be acknowledging that there is sufficient evidence to gain a conviction. The plea offer will be reviewed by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III, who is expected to consider the findings of a pre-plea investigation before deciding whether to accept the agreement reached between Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely and Skupnick's attorney, B. Craig Manford.

The trial for a man charged in a February 2011 bar fight in Martinsburg that left a man with severe injuries was set Monday for Aug. 27 in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Benjamin Jason Bean, 37, who was indicted on one count of conspiracy in October 2011, made a brief appearance in court Monday for a status hearing held by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes. Bean, aka “4th Grade,” along with Waynesboro (Pa.) Borough Councilman Craig L. Newcomer, were charged for their role in an altercation that involved then-45-year-old Ernest E. Cumbie at the Dirty Dawg Saloon along South Queen Street on Feb. 13, 2011, according to court documents.

A Waynesboro (Pa.) Borough Council member who was charged in a 2011 bar fight in Martinsburg that left a man with severe injuries was ordered to serve 200 hours of community service Monday and placed on probation for five years. Craig L. Newcomer, 48, who also was ordered to pay $2,900 in restitution, was sentenced in Berkeley County Circuit Court moments after he entered an Alford plea to one misdemeanor count of battery. A one-year jail sentence was suspended by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes, who accepted a plea agreement that was presented to the court in February to resolve what had been a felony case.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., man accused of shooting a couple twice in the head at their home in November 2009 was sentenced Thursday to five to 23 years in prison in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Donald Mark “Donnie” Seibert Jr., 24, who entered an Alford plea in February to two counts of second-degree attempted murder and two counts of malicious assault, had faced a maximum of six to 26 years behind bars. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgment by a defendant that the state has enough evidence to get a conviction.

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court to four years in state prison for the death of a Williamsport man and injuries to a woman and child in a fatal accident last summer. Stephen James Bonafede, 27, of Mountville, Pa., entered Alford pleas in January to one count negligent manslaughter and two counts of causing life-threatening injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol, court records said. The charges stemmed from a July 23, 2012, crash on Eastern Boulevard in which Luis Enrique Salazar-Reyna died of injuries he received in a head-on collision with the vehicle Bonafede was driving.

A Frederick, Md., man was found not guilty by a jury this week in Washington County Circuit Court of second-degree attempted murder, but guilty of the armed robbery of three women at Motel 6 last year. Judge Daniel P. Dwyer ordered a presentence report be prepared before sentencing for Tony Anthony Jones, 24, formerly of 1153 Orchard Terrace. In addition to three counts of armed robbery, Jones was also convicted of first-degree assault for stabbing one of the women during the May 21, 2012, incident.

The state is recommending a Hagerstown man spend 15 to 20 years in state prison after he entered guilty pleas Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to six burglaries - as well as criminal offenses committed after he posted bond on the burglary charges. Timothy Blake Miller, 21, formerly of 17548 Gay St., also pleaded guilty to a rogue and vagabond charge and entered an Alford plea to a charge of possession of heroin with intent to distribute. An Alford plea in not an admission of guilt, but is an acknowledgment that the state has enough evidence to get a conviction.

A Hagerstown-area man charged with threatening a former Washington County District Court judge entered an Alford plea Tuesday in Circuit Court and received a suspended state prison sentence, according to court records. Charles Edward Miller, 52, of 10639 Crystal Falls Drive, Hagerstown, also pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a regulated firearm, a charge stemming from the same incident, court records said. In both cases, visiting Circuit Court Judge John H. Tisdale sentenced Miller to concurrent sentences of three years with all the time suspended except for the 283 days he has spent in the detention center since his arrest, court records said.

A Williamsport man who entered an Alford plea in the 2012 kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend outside The Improved Order of Red Men Club was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to 11 years in state prison. Jeremy Shane Keadle, 31, formerly of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, entered the plea in December in exchange for other charges, including carjacking, robbery, theft, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and stalking, being dismissed. Under an Alford plea, a defendant is not admitting guilt, but is acknowledging that the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., man accused of shooting a couple twice in the head at their home in November 2009 entered an Alford plea Friday to two counts of second-degree attempted murder and two counts of malicious assault. Donald Mark “Donnie” Seibert Jr., 24, faces a sentence of six to 26 years in prison, according to the terms of a plea agreement reached between Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Timothy D. Helman and Seibert's attorney, Matthew Harvey. Two counts of malicious assault, along with single counts of grand larceny and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in other pending cases were dismissed Friday by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge John C. Yoder, who accepted the plea agreement and scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 11. Seibert could be ordered to serve a one- to three-year sentence for each attempted murder conviction and a two- to 10-year sentence for each malicious assault conviction, Helman said.

A former Hagerstown man charged with participating in a 2011 robbery in which the victim was struck with a baseball bat, was given a sentence of seven months and 24 days time served after entering an Alford plea this week in Washington County Circuit Court to criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. Dwight Orin Lewis Jr., 35, was charged in 2012 with a Sept. 28, 2011, robbery on the 12000 block of Pine Hill Drive, Hagerstown, according to charging documents filed by the Washington County Sheriff's Office.