Grand Larceny

A Jefferson County grand jury this week indicted a Shepherd University employee on multiple charges of fraudulent use of the college's purchase cards in a case involving nearly $86,000 from October 2010 to August 2012, according to court records. Elizabeth A. “Libby” Shanton, 48, of 328 N. Centre St. in Martinsburg, W.Va., was indicted on 53 counts of fraudulent or unauthorized use of a purchasing card and one count of fraudulent schemes. According to a memorandum to Shepherd employees this week from university President Suzanne Shipley, school officials became aware “of the appearance of improper expenditures by an employee,” and contacted the state auditor's office.

A woman has been charged after allegedly stealing $6,650 from the Hot Spot Cafe III on Winchester Avenue in Bunker Hill, W.Va., the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office said. Rhonda Gray Hernandez, of Triton Lane in Bunker Hill, was charged with one count of grand larceny, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office. Deputies said they were told Saturday by Hot Spot Cafe III employees that a regular customer had taken a money bag from behind the counter, but voluntarily returned most of the money after she was contacted by employees.

One of three people to be charged in connection with an Aug. 26 carjacking along Golf Course Road was arraigned Friday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. Lisa Marie Horne, 26, of Ranson, W.Va., was arraigned by Magistrate Jim Humphrey on single counts of first-degree robbery, grand larceny and accessory to robbery, according to court documents. Preliminary hearings in magistrate court for co-defendants Brad Lee Waldron, 25, of Purcellville, Va., and Paula Christina Killian, 26, of Martinsburg, who face the same charges, are scheduled for next month, according to court records.

One of two men charged in the violent robbery and beating of a 76-year-old man in his Martinsburg-area home in November 2011 also is accused of pawning a television and other items belonging to his girlfriend's family, according to court documents. Tyler Shane Munson, 20, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., was arraigned Monday by Berkeley County Magistrate Harry L. Snow on one felony count of grand larceny, the court documents said. The father of Munson's girlfriend told police that multiple items worth more than $2,000 were taken on Nov. 23 from his Specks Run Road residence, the documents said.

A 38-year-old woman accused of stealing a sport utility vehicle when it was occupied by a 16-year-old girl asleep in the back of the vehicle was found guilty Friday of kidnapping and grand larceny. Overcome with emotion, Sara Allen Woods of Martinsburg began to shake and silently cried after the first of two verdicts by a jury of nine women and three women was read aloud by a deputy Berkeley County Circuit Court clerk. Wiping her face with a tissue, Woods began to sob after the jury was released by presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh, who directed the defendant to be taken to the Eastern Regional Jail.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- Officials at Johnsontown Bible Church spent Tuesday cleaning up the house of worship near Hedgesville, W.Va., where police say about $3,000 in property was destroyed in a Memorial Day burglary. West Virginia State Police trooper M.D. Gillmore said he found an American flag placed on a Bible, with urine on both, inside the church at 68 Camp Frame Road, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Dalton Fred Banker, 20, was in Eastern Regional Jail on Tuesday, facing felony charges of burglary, grand larceny, destruction of property, three felony counts of conspiracy and a misdemeanor count of obstruction of an officer in the incident, according to court records.

A man has been arrested and charged with being part of a scrap-metal-theft ring that caused more than $300,000 in damages last month at South Jefferson Elementary School in Charles Town, W.Va., the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. Gary Heflin Jr. was arrested Wednesday night where he was living at 34 Spring Court in Harpers Ferry, according to a sheriff's office news release. He was charged with grand larceny and felony destruction of property. Deputies said his bond was set at $25,000.

Two Martinsburg, W.Va., residents have each been indicted on 39 felony counts by a Jefferson County grand jury in a case stemming from a burglary spree at more than a dozen homes in the county last summer. Court records show that Matthew Wayne Killian, 28, and Nikki Brady, no age available, both of 294 Connector Road, face a series of counts, including 13 each for burglary and grand larceny, 12 for conspiracy and one for daytime burglary. The pair is accused of taking thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, guns, TVs and other electronics, plus cash from the homes that were entered.

The following are some of the individuals who were indicted last week by a Berkeley County grand jury during the February term of circuit court. The remaining indictments will run in Monday's Herald-Mail. Stephen M. Kerrick, 42, incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, on four counts of fraudulent use of an access device and one count of conspiracy. Perrin L. Carter, 24, of 172 Crosswinds Drive, Charles Town, W.Va., on counts of malicious assault, domestic battery and domestic assault.

A Jefferson County grand jury this week indicted a Shepherd University employee on multiple charges of fraudulent use of the college's purchase cards in a case involving nearly $86,000 from October 2010 to August 2012, according to court records. Elizabeth A. “Libby” Shanton, 48, of 328 N. Centre St. in Martinsburg, W.Va., was indicted on 53 counts of fraudulent or unauthorized use of a purchasing card and one count of fraudulent schemes. According to a memorandum to Shepherd employees this week from university President Suzanne Shipley, school officials became aware “of the appearance of improper expenditures by an employee,” and contacted the state auditor's office.

Two Martinsburg, W.Va., residents have each been indicted on 39 felony counts by a Jefferson County grand jury in a case stemming from a burglary spree at more than a dozen homes in the county last summer. Court records show that Matthew Wayne Killian, 28, and Nikki Brady, no age available, both of 294 Connector Road, face a series of counts, including 13 each for burglary and grand larceny, 12 for conspiracy and one for daytime burglary. The pair is accused of taking thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, guns, TVs and other electronics, plus cash from the homes that were entered.

The following individuals have been indicted this week by a grand jury that was seated Tuesday for the February term of Berkeley County Circuit Court. An indictment merely indicates that an individual is believed to have committed the crime. Richard C. Anderson III, 28, incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, on three counts of grand larceny, four counts of burglary, two counts of attempted burglary, one count of petit larceny and two counts of conspiracy. Frederick Baker, 39, incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, on one count of conspiracy to deliver heroin.

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 27-year-old man accused of robbing two businesses in January was ordered to serve a five- to 18-year prison sentence at his plea and sentencing hearing Monday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Michael Scott Stilwell, who pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of grand larceny, was ordered to pay $2,387 in medical bills for one robbery victim and a total of $950 taken from the businesses. Stilwell was sentenced by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III to serve a one- to 10-year sentence for the grand larceny conviction and a five- to 18-year sentence for the robbery convictions concurrently or at the same time.

A man accused of shooting another man and an 8-year-old girl at Martinsburg's Fourth of July celebration this year was indicted Tuesday by a Berkeley County grand jury on two counts of attempted murder and 10 other related charges. Daniel Lee Herbert, who is incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, also was indicted on three counts of malicious assault, five counts of wanton endangerment, and single counts of felon in possession of a firearm and fleeing from a law enforcement officer by means other than use of a vehicle, according to an indictment released by Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely's office.

One of three people to be charged in connection with an Aug. 26 carjacking along Golf Course Road was arraigned Friday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. Lisa Marie Horne, 26, of Ranson, W.Va., was arraigned by Magistrate Jim Humphrey on single counts of first-degree robbery, grand larceny and accessory to robbery, according to court documents. Preliminary hearings in magistrate court for co-defendants Brad Lee Waldron, 25, of Purcellville, Va., and Paula Christina Killian, 26, of Martinsburg, who face the same charges, are scheduled for next month, according to court records.

Indictments on forgery and embezzlement charges were handed up this week by a Jefferson County grand jury against former treasurers - one for a Shepherd University sorority, the other for a local volunteer fire department. Susan Roxanne Carter, 46, of 196 Mountainside Road, Harpers Ferry, W.Va., is charged with 114 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, 18 counts of forgery and one count of embezzlement while she was the treasurer for the Blue Ridge Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

Jurors in the trial of a Virginia man charged in the 2010 deaths of a Berkeley County woman and her young son won't be shown autopsy photographs of the victims, but potentially damaging testimony from a witness will be allowed, a judge ruled Friday. In a pretrial hearing for Antonio Prophet, 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes barred the photos unless they are needed for some reason in cross-examination, Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely said after the proceeding.