Alford Plea

When she entered an Alford plea in October, the state said it would not seek a prison sentence or restitution from Jackie Sue Carter on charges she stole thousands of dollars from a Hagerstown couple. But the agreement was not binding on the judge, and allowed relatives and friends of the deceased victims to argue for a prison sentence and restitution. On Friday in Washington County Circuit Court, Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. sentenced Carter, 53, of Lancaster, Pa., to five years in prison and ordered her to pay $30,000 to the estate of the late Nelson and Betty Eshelman, court records show.

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.

Franklin D. Keefer II announced he was holding up the Columbia Bank in Hagerstown on June 28 and politely asked for money. As a result, he was allowed to enter an Alford plea Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to a theft charge. Keefer, 29, who lived in the Dagmar Hotel, 50 Summit Ave., Hagerstown, at the time of the holdup, had been charged with robbery and theft of between $1,000 and $10,000, according to court records. However, the prosecution and defense agreed that the theft charge was the appropriate disposition, Assistant Public Defender Carl Creeden said.

A 61-year-old man on federal probation for a firearm possession conviction was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court for attempting to make small bombs in his backyard. Larry Junior Whalen of Martinsburg was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to serve one to three years and pay court costs as part of a binding plea. The defendant entered a guilty plead under Alford circumstances to one count of attempting to manufacture a destructive device.

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 Hagerstown man who pleaded guilty to possession of the drug PCP in connection with an investigation into the shooting of his son was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to six months in jail. Glenn Darvin Goode, 52, of 12842 Little Elliott Drive, was sentenced by Circuit Judge John H. McDowell to four years in state prison, but McDowell suspended all but six months of the sentence, which is to be served at Washington County Detention Center, court records show. Goode will be eligible for work release and will be on supervised probation for two years after his release from jail, court records show.

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 Washington County Circuit judge Thursday sentenced a West Virginia man to 15 years in prison after he entered an Alford plea on charges of raping a teen-ager five years ago. Richard Ernest Brightwell, 32, of 25 Pilgrim St., Inwood, W.Va., entered Alford pleas to first-degree assault and second-degree rape before Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. In exchange for the pleas, prosecutors agreed to dismiss other charges, including four counts of first-degree...

The case of a Washington County teenager convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder in the death of her father is being documented for the television series, "Deadly Women. " Deputy State's Attorney Joseph Michael sat down Thursday with a production team from Beyond Productions of Sydney, Australia, to discuss the case of Danielle Black, who attempted to solicit someone to kill her father, Billy Lee Black, who was stabbed to death on  Halloween 2008. The segment is being produced for the Investigation Discovery channel, producer Jeremy Adair said.