State Prison

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man convicted by a jury in April of possession with intent to distribute cocaine resulting from a traffic stop on Interstate 81 was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to 15 years in state prison. Judge John H. McDowell sentenced Garette Edgar Kearse to 15 years, but suspended six years of the sentence. Because Kearse was in possession of more than 28 grams of cocaine, Robert Veil, the supervising state's attorney for the Washington County Narcotics Task Force, argued that Kearse's sentence should include having to serve five years without being eligible for parole.

A Williamsport man who entered an Alford plea in the 2012 kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend outside The Improved Order of Red Men Club was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to 11 years in state prison. Jeremy Shane Keadle, 31, formerly of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, entered the plea in December in exchange for other charges, including carjacking, robbery, theft, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and stalking, being dismissed. Under an Alford plea, a defendant is not admitting guilt, but is acknowledging that the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction.

If Maryland's public safety secretary has his way, inmates would dismantle a prison the state closed four years ago. Gary D. Maynard, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, floated the possibility last month. During a meeting in Annapolis with Western Maryland state delegates and senators, Maynard laid out his idea of using inmates to deconstruct the former House of Correction in Jessup. According to Maynard, the Department of General Services — which oversees state-owned property — estimated the cost of demolishing the prison building and taking materials to a landfill at $10 million.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Advising a Maryland man he had burned his bridges with the local prison system, a Franklin County judge sentenced him to state prison Wednesday for charges of conspiracy to receive stolen property and escape. James Everett Rice, 19, of Frederick, Md., was jailed in the Franklin County Prison in December when he attempted to break out. "Clearly you have burned your bridges with the local institution," said Judge Carol L. Van Horn, citing negative recommendations from police officers and misconduct reports at the jail.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A man convicted in a purse-snatching was sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court to six months to two years in state prison. "A guy who would snatch a purse from an 81-year-old woman ... to satisfy his drug urge should get an SCI (state correctional institute) sentence," Judge John Walker told 20-year-old Tyler O. Cole, whose attorney asked the judge to consider a county prison sentence. Cole, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty Dec. 11, 2006, to third-degree felony robbery.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Chambersburg man who pleaded guilty in March to setting two fires in 2005 received a state prison sentence this week in Franklin County Court and was ordered to pay more than $380,000 in restitution. Robert J. Smith, 28, formerly of 270 S. Main St., was sentenced Wednesday by Judge John R. Walker to 21 months to 15 years in prison. Smith has served nearly 16 months in the county prison, according to the sentencing sheet. On Nov. 6, 2005, Smith set fire to a mattress in his Chambersburg apartment, in a building owned by Adams-Hanover Counseling Services, Chambersburg police said.

HAGERSTOWN -- State prison officials said Thursday a notification system to be used by the prison complex south of Hagerstown in the event of escapes is almost in place. Maryland Division of Correction officials said they have been refining a communications system for several months. Executive staff members were trained on the system earlier this week, Division of Correction spokesman Mark Vernarelli said Thursday. The system, which is set to be announced within three weeks in Hagerstown, involves several forms of communication and will depend on citizens to sign up to receive notifications, Vernarelli said.

County seeks money to prosecute state prison crimes By LAURA ERNDE / Staff Writer ANNAPOLIS - Washington County lawmakers want the state to pay for prosecuting crimes at the state prison complex south of Hagerstown. A bill filed this session would require Maryland to reimburse state's attorney's offices statewide for the cost of such prosecutions. The bill was prompted by a $60,000 state grant that helped Anne Arundel County cover the cost of prosecuting crimes at Jessup.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A woman convicted in a 2006 burglary was sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court to 14 months to 12 years in state prison. Ashlee L. Ball, 23, no fixed address, pleaded guilty in February to burglary and attempted burglary in one case and to theft in another, according to court records. The sentence imposed on Ball by Judge Richard J. Walsh will run concurrently with one she is serving in New Jersey, according to the sentencing record. Ball was convicted of theft in a March 2006 incident in which she failed to return a 1997 Honda from a test drive to Heritage Highway Motors of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania State Police said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A prison escapee from Maryland who led police on a high-speed chase into Pennsylvania in June entered guilty pleas and was sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court for the offenses that took place north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Nick Tony Swan, 32, of 744 Spruce St., Hagerstown, pleaded guilty before Judge John R. Walker to a felony criminal mischief charge, as well as simple assault, fleeing police and driving under the influence. Walker sentenced Swan to two to 8 1/2 years in state prison.

A stab wound to the neck resulted in the death of a 22-year-old inmate who was assaulted Tuesday night at Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown, according to Maryland State Police. The cause of Deavel M. Johnson's death was revealed during an autopsy at the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Baltimore, MSP spokesman Greg Shipley said Friday. He said the manner of death was ruled as a homicide. “No one has been charged at this time,” Shipley said. MSP investigators have concluded initial interviews with inmates and correctional officers who were at the scene when Johnson was stabbed, Shipley said.

Maryland State Police have released the name of an inmate who died after a correctional officer discovered him bleeding Tuesday night at Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown. Deavel M. Johnson, 22, was noticed standing near a bunk bed with blood on him at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday during a head count in a dormitory unit at the prison, according to a state police news release. Troopers said correctional officers gave Johnson first aid after he collapsed and took him to the MCI-H dispensary.

A Williamsport man who entered an Alford plea in the 2012 kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend outside The Improved Order of Red Men Club was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to 11 years in state prison. Jeremy Shane Keadle, 31, formerly of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, entered the plea in December in exchange for other charges, including carjacking, robbery, theft, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and stalking, being dismissed. Under an Alford plea, a defendant is not admitting guilt, but is acknowledging that the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction.

A 30-year-old man who fatally struck a motorcyclist while driving and fled the scene of the crash March 7 was sentenced this week to two years in a state prison. Leon C. Deardorff Jr. was sentenced by Judge Douglas Herman in the Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas. He received credit for about five months already served in jail, according to online court records. Deardorff, who is listed in court records as being from Greencastle, Pa., pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by vehicle and driving on a suspended license.

A Hagerstown man pleaded guilty to armed robbery Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court and was sentenced to 20 years in state prison. Corey Anthony Dunbar, 42, formerly of 1653 Langley Drive, also pleaded guilty to use of a handgun in a crime of violence. Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. gave Dunbar 20 years on each count, suspending five years of the sentence for armed robbery and 15 years of the 20-year handgun sentence. Several other assault, theft and handgun charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

A 17-year-old Hagerstown teenager who pleaded guilty earlier this year to participating in a home invasion was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to 18 months in the county detention center. Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. gave Malik Anwar Scott, of 51 Avalon Ave., an eight-year state prison sentence for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, suspending all but 18 months to be served in county detention. On Feb. 10, Hagerstown Police went to Antietam Academy to speak with a male who told them four males entered his home in the 700 block of West Church Street the previous afternoon, according to the application for statement of charges.

A helicopter landed at the prisons south of Hagerstown to fly out a construction worker who injured several of his fingers Friday morning, state prison and Washington County Emergency Services officials said. Mark Vernarelli, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said the accident happened at about 8:15 a.m. while the worker was setting a heavy piece of electrical equipment at a Maryland Correctional Training Center housing unit. Roxbury Road east of Sharpsburg Pike (Md. 65)

A person with minor injuries was taken to Meritus Medical Center on Sunday morning after a vehicle hit a utility pole in front of The Feed Bin, an agricultural supplier on Lappans Road, authorities said. The pole was broken, Maryland State Police said. The incident in front of 18642 Lappans Road was reported at 6:55 a.m. Sunday, according to Washington County Emergency Services. That stretch of Lappans Road is south of the state prison complex. - Julie E. Greene

A Hagerstown man who pleaded guilty to the 2011 stabbing of his father-in-law was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to 15 years in state prison. Joshua Bassford, 23, formerly of 136 E. Irvin Ave., pleaded guilty in January to first-degree assault and carrying a dangerous weapon with intent to injure in the Aug. 24, 2011, stabbing of Frederick Wiebel Jr. at the East Irvin Avenue residence. Charges of attempted first- and second-degree murder were dismissed at the Jan. 31 plea hearing, court records show.

More than 20 Hancock High School students hung blue ribbons around town Monday as part of Child Abuse Awareness Month. The month's events will culminate Saturday, April 28, with the second annual Walk to End Child Abuse, Police Chief T.J. Buskirk said. This year's walk will also include a 5K run and bicycle ride, said Diane McCusker, the great-grandmother of Bella Appel, an infant who died as a result of child abuse in 2010. A Warfordsburg, Pa., man, Nicholas McKee was convicted of causing Bella Appel's death and was sentenced to 35 years in state prison.