Alford Plea

A Sharpsburg man was given a one-year suspended sentence, placed on 18 months probation and ordered to perform 125 hours of community service after entering a plea to a fourth-degree sex offense charge Wednesday in Washington County District Court, court records say. David A. Delauney, 44, of 104 N. Mechanic St., entered an Alford Plea to the fourth-degree sex offense charge before Washington County District Judge Ralph H. France II Wednesday....

A woman charged with several crimes in connection with a Jan. 13 home invasion in the 16000 block of Broadfording Road entered an Alford plea Wednesday morning in Washington County Circuit Court to attempted armed robbery. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but concedes that the state has enough evidence to gain a conviction. Washington County Circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone III deferred sentencing for Whitney Ingram, 18, and ordered a presentence investigation.

A 47-year-old Berkeley Springs, W.Va., man who faced charges stemming from alleged sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl entered an Alford plea Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to one count of second-degree assault. In making an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction. David Leroy Creek Sr., whose address when charged was 2570 Fairview Drive in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., entered the plea before Washington County Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr., who ordered him to three years of unsupervised probation.

A Washington County Circuit judge ordered probation before judgment Monday for a Hagerstown woman accused of stealing more than $9,000 from a children's athletic club. Denise Marie Bowers, 41, of 1048 Brinker Drive, entered an Alford plea before Judge W. Kennedy Boone III on a charge of theft/scheme over $500. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction. Boone placed Bowers on three years of unsupervised probation and ordered her to pay $315 in court costs.

A Hagerstown man who photographed and then fondled a friend's teenage babysitter last fall was given a five-year suspended jail sentence Monday in Washington County Circuit Court. Gary Lee Knode Jr., 30, of 13718 Pennsylvania Ave., entered an Alford plea to second-degree assault. Judge Kennedy Boone placed him on probation for 18 months and fined him $405. A defendant who enters an Alford plea doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove its case.

In local courts Suspended sentence given in assault case A Hagerstown man was given a suspended 90-day jail sentence Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court for assaulting a woman. Michael Raymond Duckfield, 34, of 119 East Ave., was found not guilty of a second charge of threat of arson after a bench trial before Judge Donald Beachley. Duckfield was placed on probation for one year and fined $150, court records said. The April 19 incident occurred at the Guilford Avenue home of Dona Kelley, who told Hagerstown City Police that Duckfield grabbed her by the throat and pulled her hair during a confrontation, court records said.

A Clear Spring man who on Monday entered an Alford plea to a charge that he inappropriately touched his baby sitter in May was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court to serve 18 months in jail. Robert Lee Shade, 44, of 14415 National Pike in Clear Spring, entered an Alford plea to a third-degree sex offense charge in connection with the May 9 incident. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but agrees the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction.

By KERRY LYNN FRALEY Staff Writer A Hagerstown man was convicted of a sexual offense against a 17-year-old girl Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court. As part of a plea agreement, Samuel O. Thorne, 22, of Hagerstown, entered an Alford plea to a charge of fourth-degree sexual offense. Under an Alford plea, a defendant acknowledges the state has evidence to gain a conviction, but does not admit guilt. The charge was one of several stemming from an incident on Jan. 23, 1997, in a room at Motel 6 in Halfway, according to court records.

County man receives suspended sentence A Washington County man pleaded guilty to second-degree assault Thursday and received a two-year suspended sentence from Washington County Circuit Judge Frederick Wright. Charges of robbery, first-degree assault and theft of less than $500 against Bradley Joseph Ebersole, 22, of 13834A Maugansville Road were dropped in exchange for his plea. Police allege that Ebersole and a friend beat and robbed another man in a dispute over drugs Dec. 1. Wright placed Ebersole on unsupervised probation.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A West Virginia man already convicted of one bank robbery entered an Alford plea Monday in Washington County Circuit Court on a second case, while charges in a third bank robbery were dismissed. Bobby Gene Shelly, 34, of Martinsburg, was convicted in April of the June 26, 2009, robbery of the M&T Bank at 177724 Garland Groh Boulevard and is serving a 10-year sentence, court records said. On Monday he entered the Alford plea to one count of robbery in the May 12, 2009, robbery of the M&T Bank branch at 14 S. Potomac St., in Williamsport.