Jail

A 20-year-old Hagerstown man was in jail Thursday on $150,000 bond after being charged with child pornography offenses, according to Washington County District Court records. Brandon Scott Martz, of 11240 Grouse Lane, is charged with two counts of promoting or distributing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, court records said. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 2, court records said. The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes unit started an investigation Dec. 28, 2011, into an Internet address offering files of child pornography through a file-sharing network, according to the application for statement of charges.

Finding ways to stem the spiraling cost of running the regional jail remains a top legislative concern of county leaders in the Eastern Panhandle. Jail costs for Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties totaled more than $4.8 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year, which ended June 30, according to figures reviewed Monday at an annual summit of the region's state lawmakers and county officials. The combined regional jail costs of the three counties accounted for more than 10 percent of the statewide figure of $45.5 million, but Vivian Parsons of the County Commissioners' Association of West Virginia told the group that the issue is a major concern for counties across the state, too. In reviewing the figures, Parsons noted Berkeley County saw a 24 percent increase in jail costs since the 2010 fiscal year, while Morgan County had to absorb an 18 percent spike.

An attorney accused of failing to provide legal services to clients after they paid him was ordered to serve 120 days in jail as a term of a probation during his plea and sentencing hearing Wednesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Kenneth J. Ford, 37, of Middle River, Md., was placed on five years probation, but combined prison sentences totaling three to 20 years were suspended by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III, who agreed to allow the defendant to serve the jail time on weekends.

An autopsy of a man who died July 31 while being held at Eastern Regional Jail revealed that he had multiple drugs in his body at the time of his death, police said Thursday. Robert Ashley Seeley, 28, of Inwood, W.Va., died from a drug overdose, West Virginia State Police Trooper R.D. Eshbaugh said Thursday.  The autopsy conducted by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner indicated Seeley had morphine, codeine, alprazolam (Xanax), and dextromethorphan in his body, according to Eshbaugh.

The trial for a man accused of shooting another man and an 8-year-old girl at Martinsburg's Fourth of July celebration was set for Dec. 18 at his arraignment hearing Tuesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Daniel Lee Herbert, who is incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, was indicted earlier this month by a grand jury on two counts of attempted murder, 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.

A man spotted running near two Martinsburg schools on the first day of classes in August while carrying a training rifle and dressed in camouflage pleaded no contest to public intoxication and disturbance of a school Wednesday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. William E. “Billy” Alemar, 23, was sentenced to seven days in jail, which he already served after being arrested on Aug. 20, fined a total of $15 for the two misdemeanor offenses and was ordered to pay court costs. Alemar also is expected to complete his current course of treatment for post-traumatic stress as part of the plea agreement.

A man charged with second-degree murder in the July 2011 death of a fellow Eastern Regional Jail inmate pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. As part of a plea agreement, Dewarren Bruce Jenkins, 25, of Oklahoma City, Okla., was ordered to serve eight months of a one-year jail sentence. The remaining four months were suspended for two years of probation. Jenkins was charged in the July 29, 2011, death of Melvin Cox, 53, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., which came four days after the two men fought.

If you believe chocolate is to die for, then Death by Chocolate is for you. The annual fundraiser for the Franklin County Historical Society will return to the east yard of the Old Jail, 175 E. King St., from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 20. For the first time, it will be held on AppleFest Saturday, when the main streets of downtown Chambersburg will be lined with food and craft vendors. Tastings at the Old Jail will be paired with ice cream, dessert, specialty teas and other culinary delights.

A 49-year-old man charged with drunken driving in the May 2011 death of Harry Lee Franks Jr. was ordered during his plea and sentencing hearing Thursday in Berkeley County Circuit Court to serve 365 days in jail on weekends. David Wayne McDaniel of Inwood, W.Va., pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of driving revoked for driving under the influence and DUI with death. In addition to the weekend jail time, McDaniel was ordered to complete 500 hours of community service, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, pay $8,214 in restitution and $600 in fines, and be placed on probation for five years.

A court hearing for a man charged with second-degree murder in the July 2011 death of a fellow Eastern Regional Jail inmate was postponed Tuesday to allow the state time to subpoena witnesses for the case.  Dewarren Bruce Jenkins, 25, of Oklahoma City, Okla., agreed to the state's motion for a continuance of his scheduled preliminary probable-cause hearing in exchange for a lower bond. Jenkins is charged in the death of Melvin Cox, 53, of Bunker Hill, W.Va. Jenkins' bond was reduced from $50,000 cash-only to $25,000 cash or surety.