Jail

A man who accidentally was released from a jail in Virginia earlier this month was captured Thursday morning at the Motel 6 on Massey Boulevard near Hagerstown. Allen Nathaniel Walker was taken into custody without incident at about 11 a.m. by the Washington County Warrant Task Force, Lt. Jim Cooper of the Washington County Sheriff's Office said. Walker was released by mistake on Feb. 7 from the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester, Va., said Capt. Ron Werdebaugh, a jail spokesman.

Former jail deputy indicted By MARLO BARNHART marlob@herald-mail.com A Washington County grand jury has handed up indictments on charges of second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense and two counts of correctional employee/inmate sex offense against a former jail deputy at the Washington County Detention Center. Michael Anthony Garner, who was served Wednesday with a warrant detailing the grand jury's April 26 action, faces as much as 46 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

charlestown@herald-mail.com More than two years of debate about what to do with the old Jefferson County Jail came to a head Thursday night when the Jefferson County Commissioners voted 3-2 to tear down the 85-year-old building. Commission President Jane Tabb along with Commissioners James G. Knode and Al Hooper voted to tear down the jail despite concerns from Commissioners Greg Corliss and Rusty Morgan that the county was moving too quickly on the issue. Corliss wanted the commission to hold off on the demolition until it hears from a state agency that was formed to review the needs of aging courthouses in the state.

Demolition of historic jail stalled By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The proposed demolition of the Jefferson County jail continues to hit stumbling blocks. Following a court ruling on the demolition, the Jefferson County Commissioners were required to contact the state Division of Culture and History and allow them to review the proposed action. The commissioners received a letter from the department in response, but it contained instructions as if the county wanted to save the jail, said Commission President James G. Knode.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - Plans for a day reporting center as an alternative to jail for criminal offenders in Franklin County got a boost Thursday with the announcement of a $99,900 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The grant will be added to $200,000 included in the 2005 budget for the center, which Warden John Wetzel said could provide an alternative to jail for up to 150 criminal offenders and defendants awaiting trial.

By MARLO BARNHART Staff Writer Washington County District Court Judge Ralph France on Wednesday ordered three parents to jail terms because their children hadn't been attending school. Two other parents, a Russian couple, walked out of Washington County District Court without penalty because their children are attending school. The truancy cases heard Wednesday included: William and Susan Pompell, ages unknown, of 342 South St., were each found guilty of failure to send their 14-year-old son to school.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Unlike some football players going to prison these days, Michael Cobb's time Tuesday in Franklin County (Pa.) Jail was an attempt to get others out. Cobb, a first-round draft choice of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1977, addressed Franklin County inmates about their choices and legacies. He asked those gathered how they want to be remembered. "Somebody who shared Christ with others," one man said. "Somebody who helped," another said. "If you can think positive thoughts, you can live positive," Cobb said.

By GUY FLETCHER Staff Writer For the talent competition in the 1981 Miss America Pageant, Hagerstown's Robin Harmon chose a dramatic reading from "Antigone," a classic Greek tragedy in which the title heroine tumbles from grace into personal catastrophe. Harmon, the first black Miss Maryland, was confident, stunningly attractive and smart enough to know there was life beyond the Atlantic City, N.J., Convention Hall stage. At 24, she was planning careers in modeling, broadcast journalism and perhaps even acting.

A Hagerstown woman was sentenced this week in Washington County District Court to 10 days in jail for attempting to extort money from the owners of a lost dog. Judge Mark D. Thomas Tuesday sentenced Elena Vatamaniuc, 57, of 257 Belview Ave., to 18 months in jail, suspended all but 10 days and fined her $500, according to court records. Vatamaniuc had pleaded guilty to extortion of less than $500 in exchange for dismissal of a theft charge, the court records said. The dog, a 1-year-old Weimaraner named Harleigh Belle, escaped from owners Leonardo Schianodicola and Carla Carter on Aug. 15, 2010, according to the application for statement of charges filed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

After spending a weekend in jail, Congress candidate Richard J. Lank is free and continuing his campaign. On Friday, Lank turned himself in to Montgomery County, Md., authorities, who wanted him on a September 2007 warrant connected to child-support money he owed. Capt. Chris Calantonio of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday that Lank paid $2,100 that he owed, enough to get him out of jail Monday. Calantonio said Lank still owes about $35,000 in the case.

A man accused of sexually abusing seven children was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Donald F. Graham, 30, who is incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, was indicted on 14 counts of sexual abuse, according to an indictment released by Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely's office. Court documents indicate police were notified by West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources officials in November 2012 of allegations involving three children.

Charged with breaking his infant son's leg, a Hagerstown man was sentenced to 14 months in jail after pleading guilty Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to second-degree assault. Circuit Court Judge John H. McDowell sentenced 31-year-old Jerome Jackson, of 219 W. Howard St., to 10 years in prison, suspending all but 14 months to be served in the county detention center. In exchange for the plea, the state dismissed seven other charges, including first-degree child abuse resulting in severe physical injury, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Police seized 310 cartons of cigarettes from a vehicle that was stopped at a Martinsburg-area Sheetz on Wednesday, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court documents. Oda Qarqat, 46, of Bogota, N.J., was arraigned Thursday on charges of no operators license and transportation of unstamped cigarettes or tax-not-paid tobacco products by Magistrate Robert L. Lowe II, according to court documents. Qarqat was in Eastern Regional Jail Thursday night on $9,000 bond, according to court and jail records.

A Hagerstown man was sentenced Thursday in Berkeley County Circuit Court to at least one year in prison after he pleaded guilty to fleeing the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in April 2011. Steven Edward Thompson, 47, was fined $500 by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge John C. Yoder and ordered to report to Eastern Regional Jail by 5 p.m. Friday to begin serving the sentence, which requires him to spend not less than one year nor more than five years in prison. Yoder denied the defendant's plea for home confinement Thursday after Thompson pleaded guilty to one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence resulting in the April 12, 2011, death of Lorena Beth “Lori” Roberts of Bunker Hill, W.Va.

A Keedysville man was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to 10 weekends in jail after pleading guilty to trying to kill dogs with sponges covered with chicken gravy. Joseph Wade Wagner, 35, of 5132 Porterstown Road, pleaded guilty to attempted cruelty to animals and disorderly conduct. In exchange for his plea, a charge of resisting arrest was dismissed. Washington County Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. sentenced Wagner to 90 days in jail, but suspended all but 20 days, which he is to serve on weekends.

A Fulton County, Pa., man has been charged with sexually abusing a girl multiple times over the course of the last 2 1/2 years, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Warren David Kerlin III, 50, of Burnt Cabins, Pa., is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault and other related offenses, according to a state police news release. Troopers allege Kerlin sexually assaulted the girl over the course of the last 2 1/2 years in Dublin Township.

A man accused of sexually assaulting a girl in 2009 told authorities he was assaulted by another male inmate at Eastern Regional Jail early Tuesday, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. The accused inmate, Aaron J. Stanback, 26, of Ronceverte, W.Va., was arraigned Tuesday on one count of first-degree sexual assault by Magistrate Charles C. Cole Sr., according to court documents. Police said Stanback indicated the encounter with John Paul Knipple Jr. was consensual and that he didn't mean to hurt him, according to court documents.

A Senate committee Tuesday heard testimony for a bill that would enhance penalties for those trying to or smuggling cell phones or other telecommunication devices into jails and prisons and those receiving such contraband. The bill has been introduced in the Maryland General Assembly by Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, and Sen. Joseph M. Getty, R-Baltimore County/Carroll. Shank said at the hearing that the bill deals with a “pressing public policy issue.” He said that additional penalties are needed because despite the efforts of prosecutors, these devices were still being smuggled into facilities.

A Chambersburg man charged in a 2011 traffic crash that claimed the life of a Shippensburg woman will not serve jail time following Wednesday's sentencing in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. President Judge Douglas W. Herman sentenced Jeffrey David Davies, 22, to 72 months to be divided between wearing an electronic monitoring device and probation. Davies was charged with homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault in connection with the Jan. 4, 2011, crash that killed Kristi L. Myers, 18, of Shippensburg, Pa., Pennsylvania State Police said.

A Pennsylvania man was being held in the Eastern Regional Jail on Friday night following his apprehension in Berkeley County, W.Va., in connection with an armed robbery at the Shepherdstown Pharmacy on Thursday morning. Joshua Armolt, 30, whose address was not available, was taken into custody at an apartment building on Holiday Road in the Swan Pond area of Berkeley County. Members of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, West Virginia State Police and U.S. Marshals were acting on a tip from Martinsburg Police when they spotted Armolt's black Pontiac Sunfire convertible parked in front of the apartment building, according to Lt. T.H. Hansen of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.