MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - Shepherdstown police officers no longer have to write traffic tickets - literally.

Through a grant from the Governors Highway Safety Program, Shepherdstown Police Department now has e-citation printers in its six patrol cars.

Instead of physically writing out a ticket, officers now type information into a mounted patrol car laptop. That data is transferred to the e-printer device mounted on the dashboard, which prints out the citation in seconds.

The e-citations are designed to save officers both time and expedite the ticket information gathering process, said Margaret Walker, program coordinator for the Governor's Highway Safety Program, who presented three new units to the Shepherdstown Police on Wednesday.

To the public, an e-citation will look essentially the same as a handwritten ticket, but for police officers, using e-citation units saves time and provides clear, legible citations.

"It's very user friendly," said Shepherdstown Police patrolman Mike Moats, who demonstrated an e-citation in action in the front seat of his patrol car.

"We started with three units several weeks ago," said Shepherdstown Police Chief Michael L. King. "It's been such a success already, that we said we have to have them for everybody."

E-citations also speed up sending data to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

"For the court clerk, it cuts a couple of the steps out for them," King said. The printer electronically sends a copy to the court clerk, and once the citation is approved, it's sent electronically to the DMV automatically."

Walker said e-citations also makes compiling traffic ticket data more efficient.

"It helps us on the other end, to gather the data to provide to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," Walker said. "NHTSA is always gathering the data - how many citations have been written in a year, or how many DUI arrests."

The GHSP has provided 94 units to law enforcement departments throughout Region 6 in the state, including six to Shepherdstown Police and 11 to the Charles Town Police Department, Walker said. Units also have been provided to both Berkeley and Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

Each Zebra e-printer unit costs approximately $800, Walker said.

E-tickets are also sharp and legible, in contrast to, handwritten tickets, which employ carbon copies and can sometimes be an adventure trying to decipher.

"We always get the last copy on those multiple copy tickets," Moats said. "With my tickets, probably nine times out of 10, it won't be legible enough to read for my court presentation."

A Kanawha County judge last week refused to throw out a lawsuit against the West Virginia State Police and the trooper who killed a Mercer County teen nearly three years ago.

Timothy Hill, 18, was unarmed when Senior Trooper B. D. Gillespie shot and killed him in the early morning hours of June 13, 2014, following a brief struggle at the foot of Hill's driveway in Kegley. During the struggle, Gillespie said Hill reached for his gun. Hill was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest.

About a year after his death, Hill's parents, Michelle and Robert Hill Jr., filed a lawsuit against Gillespie and the State Police alleging Gillespie acted maliciously and in reckless disregard of Hill's rights.

In denying the State Police's motion for summary judgment, Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey wrote the Hills' lawsuit raises questions that should be up to a jury to decide.

Trial is set for March 13.

The judge also turned down a request Friday by lawyers for the State Police to put the case on hold while they appeal her ruling pertaining to summary judgment to the state Supreme Court.

Attorney Gary Pullin, who represents the State Police, could still appeal the ruling to justices while the case continues.

The State Police and Gillespie argue they should be entitled to qualified immunity, which protects officers of state agencies and boards from being sued.

Bailey wrote her analysis of qualified immunity ceased when a question was discovered for a jury.

"A clear question of fact exists, with sufficient factual basis in the record, regarding whether Defendant Gillespie violated Timothy Hill's clearly established rights. Furthermore, a jury could find on Plaintiffs' behalf that one or more clearly established rights of Mr. Hill were violated by the Defendant," the judge wrote.

The Hills, who are represented by lawyers Mike Olivia, Stephanie Mullett and the Berthold law firm, also allege in their lawsuit the State Police does not properly investigate killings involving its officers. The investigation of Gillespie, as is usually the case, was led by fellow troopers.

A Mercer County grand jury in 2014 chose not to indict Gillespie after an investigation led by a fellow trooper and then Mercer Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash.

Hill and Gillespie, who both lived on the same street, had at least one previous run-in concerning Hill riding a dirt bike in the street. About four months before her son was killed, Michelle Hill told a Mercer sheriff's deputy Gillespie was harassing her son. The Hills said Gillespie watched their son with binoculars and recorded him with a video camera.

The 1 a.m. confrontation that led to Hill's shooting concerned some wet underwear two other boys had thrown on Gillespie's police cruiser as a prank after they went swimming.

Angela Gillespie woke her husband up at about 11:30 p.m. and said she discovered the underwear on his police cruiser and had seen a group of boys in their driveway. She then got in her vehicle and went searching for the boys.

After she returned, Gillespie, who had already worked a 14-hour shift earlier that day, "made the decision to put on his WVSP trooper uniform" and call to place himself on duty, Bailey wrote in her order Friday.

After patrolling for about two hours, Gillespie came upon three teenage boys walking in the road.

"He decided to pull-over to question the boys, but did not call in his position to the WVSP or turn on his in-car dashboard camera," the judge wrote.

After questioning the boys, who denied the underwear prank, Gillespie dismissed two boys to question Hill alone. It was during the questioning when he decided to arrest Hill.

"The events that follow are uncertain," Bailey wrote.

When Gillespie grabbed Hill's arm, Hill jerked away, cursed at him and went to "jolt off," according to a trooper's report on the investigation into the shooting.

Gillespie said he then sprayed Hill in the face with pepper spray from a distance of about 6 inches, but it didn't have any effect on Hill.

Clark Crews, a neighbor who was sitting on his porch, ran over and asked Gillespie if he needed help. Crews said he immediately felt the effects of the pepper spray.

Crews pulled at Hill's arm and all three men fell down a hill into a drainage ditch. It's then Gillespie contends Hill began grabbing on his gun holster.

"Defendant Gillespie also says he was in fear for his life, so he unholstered his firearm and shot twice at Timothy Hill," Bailey wrote.

After that, the judge continued, Gillespie "did not attempt to ascertain Mr. Hill's condition. Mr. Hill's body was found later by WVSP investigators to be face-down in the water."

Reach Kate White at

kate.white@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-1723 or follow

@KateLWhite on Twitter.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Huntington City Council has agreed to transfer $325,000 from a police overtime budget to use for regular salaries for the next fiscal year.

The Herald-Dispatch reports Saturday's move will allow for the hiring of five police officers.

Council member Mike Shockley says "putting officers back on the streets is a priority."

In January, a budget deficit prompted the layoffs of 10 probationary officers, six civilian employees and a part-time officer in the police department.

Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli says laid-off officers will be given priority for hiring with the five patrol jobs.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is returning a transgender teen's case to a lower court without reaching a decision.

The justices said Monday they have opted not to decide whether federal anti-discrimination law gives high school senior Gavin Grimm the right to use the boys' bathroom in his Virginia school.
The case had been scheduled for argument in late March. Instead, a lower court in Virginia will be tasked with evaluating the federal law known as title IX and the extent to which it applies to transgender students.
The high court action follows the Trump administration's recent decision to withdraw a directive issued during Barack Obama's presidency that advised schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth.
The administration action triggered legal wrangling that ended with Monday's order. In essence, the federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, had relied on the Obama administration's interpretation of Title IX to side with Grimm. The appeals court accepted the administration's reading of the law without deciding for itself what the law and a related regulation on same-sex bathrooms and locker rooms mean.
No appeals court has yet undertaken that more independent analysis, and the Supreme Court typically is reluctant to do so without at least one appellate opinion to review, and usually more than one.
For Grimm, the order means that he probably will graduate with the issue unresolved and his ability to use the boys' bathroom blocked by a policy of the Gloucester County school board. Although he won a court order allowing him to use the boys' bathroom, the Supreme Court put it on hold last August, before the school year began.
Similar cases are pending in other parts of the country so it is likely that other appeals courts also will weigh in about the reach of anti-discrimination protections for transgender students.
Both sides in Grimm's case had asked for the high court to go ahead with the case, even after the administration withdrew the Obama-era directive, although the school board said the case should be delayed.
The justices did not comment on the case beyond their one-sentence order returning it to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Police arrested a 25-year-old man Saturday after he allegedly fought with three officers.

Juriah Roncal, of Dunbar, caught the attention of a GoMart employee on Sixteenth Street. Roncal was not supposed to be at the location because of a previous incident, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

An officer later found him riding a bike on Charleston Avenue. As the officer stepped out of his car, Roncal reportedly said the police weren't going to stop him from going where he wanted.

Roncal then tried to escape on his bike, making it to Lightner Avenue before throwing down his bike and facing the officer - both fists raised, according to the complaint.

The officer used a Taser on Roncal but it had no effect, the complaint states. After another short chase, Roncal again faced the officer and then punched him in the head, according to the complaint.

Two more officers arrived and the group struggled to put Roncal in handcuffs. He punched one officer and grabbed the other's neck before they could finally arrest him, according to the complaint. Police charged Roncal with obstructing and battery on an officer.

He remained at South Central Regional Jail in lieu of a $5,000 bond Monday morning.

The Milton Police Department obtained warrants for the arrest of 26-year-old Siera Burgess, charging her with DUI causing death in connection with the crash on Interstate 64 that killed two of her children Friday.

Police also received search warrants for blood samples and hospital lab results from the tested samples, according to a news release.

Burgess is said to have crossed a median, hit a truck and collided with a tractor-trailer. Skylor Cooper, 3, and Sarah Cooper, 1, died in the crash, according to the release.

Burgess is recovering from her injuries, as is her other daughter, 7-year-old Madilyn.

Six years after the disappearance of 3-year-old Aliayah Lunsford, the girls' mother was indicted Monday on charges that include murder and concealment of a dead body.

Lena Lunsford, 34, was indicted by a Lewis County grand jury Monday on four felony charges, which include: murder of a child by a parent by refusal or failure to provide necessities; death of a child by a parent by child abuse; child abuse resulting in injury and concealment of a deceased human body, according to a Lewis Circuit Court clerk.

Aliayah Lunsford was last seen in her bed in the Ben Dale area of Lewis County in September 2011. Her mother reported her missing in a 911 call.

Lena Lunsford was brought to West Virginia from Florida, where she had been living, to face a charge in her daughter's death for the first time last year. Lewis sheriff's deputies wrote in a criminal complaint filed against Lunsford witnesses told them the girl was killed in her home. The complaint, filed in November, charged Lunsford with death of a child by parent or guardian by child abuse.

Lena Lunsford allegedly struck Aliayah Lunsford with a solid, hand-held object, according to police. She also allegedly didn't provide medical assistance and didn't allow others present in the home to help the girl.

An indictment is not a finding of fact, it means only a grand jury found enough evidence exists to warrant a jury trial.

When the charge against Lena Lunsford was filed last fall, Lewis Sheriff Adam Gissy held a news conference and addressed members of the media and also many area residents who had helped look for the girl. The search for the toddler had received national attention.

"I realize that there are several questions left unanswered," Gissy said at the time. "However, I'm sure the one question that is weighing on everyone's mind is, 'Have we located Aliayah?' The investigation has led us to believe that the one person who possesses knowledge of Aliayah's whereabouts is now in custody."

Reach Kate White at

kate.white@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-1723 or follow

@KateLWhite on Twitter.

Police responded to a disturbance Sunday and found Jason Davis, of Charleston, on the front porch of his home in the 300 block of Roane Street. Davis then pulled out a gun from his waistband and held it by his side, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court. The officers told Davis to drop the gun and he eventually did.

After a brief struggle to put Davis in handcuffs, officers asked if he would take a breath test to see whether he drank alcohol, the complaint notes. Though he refused, police said he smelled like alcohol and seemed impaired.

Authorities arrested Davis on charges of brandishing, possessing a prohibited firearm and obstructing an officer. He remained at the South Central Regional Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail Monday afternoon.

A settlement agreement was reached last month in dozens of lawsuits that claimed the former director of Raleigh General Hospital's cardiac unit routinely performed unnecessary procedures on patients.

Nearly 90 lawsuits had been filed against Raleigh General Hospital, LifePoint Hospitals (the company that owns Raleigh General) and Dr. Donald Kenneth Glaser, the former director of the cardiac unit at the Beckley hospital.

Details about the agreement are not public. Charleston lawyer Ben Salango, who represents plaintiffs in the case, would only confirm Monday that an agreement had been made.

"The matter has been resolved and I am not permitted to make further comment," Salango said.

No one representing the hospital could be reached Monday afternoon for comment. A report filed by Lifepoint late last month with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission also confirms the settlement.

The report, while it doesn't provide an exact amount, states that the lawsuits involving the allegations against Glaser and the Beckley hospital, along with similar allegations in a smaller number of lawsuits filed against one of the company's hospital's in Alabama, are under $25 million, which is what the company planned for.

The SEC report states that an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into Raleigh General also has come to an end.

In September 2013, officials from two LifePoint hospitals, Raleigh General and Vaughan Regional Medical Center, in Selma, Alabama, voluntarily contacted the U.S. Department of Justice and disclosed allegations being brought against two of its cardiologists - Glaser and another from the Alabama hospital. The hospital also began calling and writing letters to former patients of Glasser and indicating they may have received a procedure that was not medically necessary.

Raleigh General recruited Glaser from Boca Raton, Florida, to serve as director of the hospital's push to offer advanced cardiac care to compete against Charleston Area Medical Center. Under Glaser's watch, the number of cardiac catheterization procedures increased from 350 a year to 2,100 a year from 2009 to 2012, according to filings by the plaintiffs. Nurses complained that Glaser was sleeping in patient rooms and operating on patients 18 to 21 hours a day.

Lawyers for the hospital were set to argue before the West Virginia Supreme Court on Jan. 17 but rescinded their appeal of a ruling made by Raleigh Circuit Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick. The judge last year granted a motion by lawyers representing former patients of the hospital and their families to make public a five-year-old letter written by Glaser's former colleague to the hospital CEO.

The lawsuits alleged that hospital officials knew about Glaser's misconduct for about five years before informing patients they could have had an unnecessary procedure by Glaser. Glaser's former colleague at Raleigh General, Dr. Marcus Sodums, now of New York, wrote to Raleigh General's CEO in 2012 about concerns over unnecessary procedures being conducted and concerns about the safety of Glaser's patients, according to Kirkpatrick's ruling.

Lawyers for the hospital planned to argue that the letter is protected by peer review privileges. The judge pointed out that Sodums confirmed in his deposition that he never took part in a peer review while at the hospital in Beckley, and that no one had instructed him to write the letter.

The lawsuits claimed that Glaser and Raleigh General, plus LifePoint, organized a scheme to generate revenue that involved patients undergoing unnecessary procedures including, among others, cardiac catheterizations and angioplasties.

Plaintiffs also claimed that hospital officials should have been suspicious of Glaser as early as 2010. That's when nursing staff members in the cardiac unit allegedly began complaining to hospital administrators about the volume and medical necessity of the procedures Glaser was performing.

Sodums testified during a deposition last year that he became concerned about Glaser in 2010 after first noticing his colleague was mischaracterizing, among other things, the severity of chest pain experienced by patients.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill Tuesday to ramp up penalties for those convicted of bringing illicit drugs into the state.

Upon full approval, HB 2579, which passed 88-10, would increase the minimum penalty for an offender convicted of bringing a Schedule I or Schedule II narcotic into West Virginia to 10 years, with a maximum of 30 years.

Current legislation calls for one to 15 years in prison for the same offenders.

The bill would also increase sentencing for those convicted of bringing in any other Schedule I, II or III drug for a minimum of five years and a maximum of 15 years, and/or a fine of $15,000. The bill also carves out an exception for marijuana (a Schedule I drug), calling for a sentence of between one and five years, and/or a fine of $15,000.

Likewise, the legislation stiffens penalties on those who bring Schedule IV and V drugs into the state as well.

Unlike most surrounding states and federal sentencing guidelines, the legislation does not discriminate regarding how much of the illegal substances offenders bring into the state, or whether they have been convicted of the same crime in the past.

During the debate, Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer, said given increased demand, the distribution of heroin can be a profitable enterprise, and the code needs to deter would-be dealers from entering the business.

"We've been told a person can ship heroin into this state and earn $25,000 to $40,000 per month," he said. "In that case, is that one to 15 [years] penalty enough to discourage somebody from that type of activity?"

Along with Shott, Delegate Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, said some representatives are opposing the bill because of the added costs of incarceration and enforcement, but they're neglecting the toll heroin takes on communities.

"It's about the misery, the broken families, the lost opportunity that's incurred in this state from substance abuse," he said. "That's the fiscal note I want to see from this bill."

Opposing the bill, Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, D-Pendleton, said although it may be well intentioned, the bill will have economic consequences due to the increased load it will create on the prison system.

"We can't afford it," he said. "Future delegates that sit in our seat in the next decade, they're going to curse us all, because they're going to be forced to build a new prison to undergo the damages we're about to do today."

Sponaugle went on to compare the sentence under the bill for bringing heroin into West Virginia (10 years to 30 years) with that of murder in the second degree (10 to 40 years), attempt to kill or injure by poison (three to 18 years) and voluntary manslaughter (three to 15 years)

Other House Democrats including Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, and Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, pushed back against the bill, noting its emphasis on punitive matters rather than prevention and rehabilitation.

In contrast to the idea that the bill is an additional burden to the state, Delegate Jeff Eldridge, D-Lincoln, called the measure a "job creator" due to the likelihood of it warranting the creation of a new prison in the state.

He voted in favor of the bill, and said during debate he hopes any new prisons built in the state end up in the state's southwestern region.

Should the legislation pass through the Senate and Governor's office, West Virginia's inbound trafficking laws would prove one of the strictest in the region.

In Virginia, the penalty for bringing a Schedule I or Schedule II drug into the state is a mandatory minimum of three years, with a range of five to 10 years. Subsequent offenses would lead to a mandatory minimum of 10 years.

In Kentucky, the penalty for trafficking heroin into the state qualifies as a Class C felony, leading to a sentence of between five and 10 years.

Reach Jake Zuckerman at jake.zuckerman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814, or follow @jake_zuckerman on Twitter.

The northbound and southbound lanes of Corridor G currently are shut down between Trace Fork Boulevard and the Davis Creek exit due to an two-vehicle crash.

A dispatcher said the crash, which occurred around 9:30 p.m., involved at least two vehicles and possibly was the result of a head-on collision.

The extent of any injuries are unknown at this time, the dispatcher said.

Police departments from both Charleston and South Charleston responded to the crash, along with the Charleston Fire Department.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - Eight northern West Virginia residents have been indicted on charges that they staged vehicle accidents in order to file false insurance claims.

Prosecutors say the eight were indicted Tuesday on mail fraud charges in federal court in Clarksburg.

According to the indictment, the group conspired to file insurance claims totaling about $250,000 for staged accidents in Harrison, Marion and Taylor counties from 2012 to 2014.

Four of the defendants are Fairmont residents and three are from Clarksburg. One lives in Morgantown.

Two Boone County Schools employees have been charged with stealing at least $20,000 from the county board of education. Transportation director Bryan Jarrell and mechanic Tracy Harvey turned themselves in to West Virginia State Police on Wednesday afternoon, said Sgt. C.R. Sutphin, of the WVSP Madison detachment.

Jarrell and Harvey are charged with embezzlement and obtaining by fraud for allegedly making personal purchases with money from the county's transportation department budget, Sutphin said.

They allegedly made more than $20,000 in purchases, he said.

"And that number is probably going to go up," Sutphin said.

Wednesday afternoon Sutphin said troopers were preparing to take Jarrell and Harvey to Boone County Magistrate Court for arraignment.

State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a petition Wednesday with the state Supreme Court, asking the court to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the state's right-to-work law.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey issued the injunction last August, as part of an ongoing challenge of the new law by the West Virginia AFL-CIO and numerous other unions. Those unions contend the law, passed last year, represents an unconstitutional taking of union resources, since unions would be required to represent employees in union shops who opt not to pay union dues under the law.

In the petition to the court, the attorney general's office argues that the injunction has caused "irreparable harm to the state, and sowed confusion among employees, unions, and employers who lack clarity as to how to lawfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements while these proceedings continue."

"The negative impact caused by this injunction demands immediate relief," Morrisey said in a statement. "I urge the Supreme Court to consider our arguments and reach an expedited decision so as to eliminate confusion and mitigate damage to our state."

In response, state AFL-CIO President Josh Sword said West Virginia operated as a state for more than 150 years without a right-to-work law.

"Now, suddenly there's irreparable harm to the citizens of the state? Give me a break," he said.

Sword said he was not surprised by Morrisey's petition to overturn the injunction.

"We knew it was ultimately going to end up at the state Supreme Court," Sword said of the unions' challenge of the law. "It doesn't matter to us whether it happens sooner or later, we're prepared for our day in court."

Under the law, employees in union shops could not be compelled to pay union dues.

In granting the preliminary injunction, Bailey said the law could present financial harm to labor unions, since workers would be "seriously discouraged" from joining.

"Why, the employee would ask, should I pay for something the law requires be made available to me for nothing?" Bailey stated in her order, noting the law could "seriously burden a union's ability to recruit and retain members."

In the petition to the Supreme Court, the attorney general argues that the duty of fair representation is in federal law, not state law.

While the primary argument in the union's challenge is that the law amounts to an illegal taking of union resources, the suit also challenges unclear language in the new right-to-work law that seems to exempt building and construction trades unions, as well as language in the definitions section of the law that could be interpreted as limiting it to public employees unions.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to correct those portions of the law (SB330), after removing a provision in the original draft of the bill that would have made the changes effective retroactively to July 1, 2016.

Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.

The Lincoln County woman who allegedly crashed her car on Interstate 64 in Cabell County, killing two of her children and injuring a third child, will face an additional charge related to that child's injuries, police say.

Sierra Burgess, 26, of Branchland, allegedly crossed a median, hit a truck, and collided with a tractor-trailer on Friday night, near the Milton exit of Interstate 64. Skylor Cooper, 3, and Sarah Cooper, 1, died in the crash. Burgess previously was charged with DUI causing death in relation to the crash.

Milton police Chief Joe Parsons said that on Tuesday, police obtained a warrant to also charge Burgess with DUI causing injury. Burgess and her 7-year-old daughter, Madilyn Burgess, both were injured.

Parsons said both remained at an area hospital as of Tuesday evening.

Michael Thornsbury, the longtime Mingo County circuit judge sentenced to federal prison in 2014, is no longer scheduled to be released early because of his participation in a drug abuse program.

Last June, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website last June showed Thornsbury set to be released on March 15, 2017 -- a year earlier than his original sentence called for.

Thornsbury, 60, successfully completed the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program offered through the federal BOP, the secretary for the warden of FCI Pensacola in Florida told the Gazette-Mail last June. Inmates who successfully complete the program can get up to a year shaved off their sentence, according to federal law.

Thornsbury had also, for a time last year, believed he would be released in October 2016 to a halfway house, the prisons website previously showed. Prisoners often make that move about six months before their sentences are up.

A search of the BOP website Wednesday reflected the original prison sentence of more than four years, handed down in June 2014 by U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnson. Thornsbury is now set to be released on March 15, 2018.

Johnston handed down the sentence after Thornsbury admitted to conspiring to deprive a man of his constitutional rights to protect a political ally. The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the sentence in May 2015.

Thornsbury, who resigned in 2013 after serving 17 years as Mingo County's only circuit judge, voluntarily surrendered to the federal correctional institute in Pensacola, Florida, on July 28, 2014, according to court documents.

To qualify for the drug abuse program, prisoners must have a documented and verifiable substance abuse disorder consistent with the American Psychiatric Association, among other requirements, according to information on the BOP website.

In addition to the prison term, Thornsbury was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Normally, while on supervised release, defendants are subject to periodic drug screenings. But Johnson suspended the drug testing requirements for the former judge because, "based on the court's determination," Thornsbury "poses a low risk of future substance abuse," Johnston's sentencing documents state.

The U.S. Department of Justice last year sent letters to the people it considers Thornsbury's victims notifying them of an early release from prison. Thornsbury had been set to attend a community corrections program in Lexington, Kentucky.

There are only a few ways a federal inmate can qualify for early release. Besides completion of the drug program, prisoners could have a shorter sentence recommended by federal prosecutors, according to federal law. Federal inmates can sometimes qualify to be released early based on good behavior, but only after they have served roughly 85 percent of their sentence.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Charles Miller announced a Kanawha grand jury on Friday returned indictments against 76 defendants.

An indictment is not a finding of fact; it means only that enough evidence exists to warrant a jury trial.

The following are judges and arraignment dates and times:

Judge Jennifer Bailey, April 12, 9:30 a.m.

Joseph William Estep, 43, of Nitro, terroristic threats, drug charges and prohibited person from possession a firearm; James Dewayne Hamilton, 63, of Charleston, obtaining by false pretense and forgery and uttering; Jackie S. Harper, 23, drug charges; Angela Marie Johnson, 41, of Cross Lanes, drug charges; Stephanie K. Medford, 36, of Charleston, drug charges; Trista D. Sutherland, 31, of St. Albans, drug charges and person prohibited from possessing a firearm; Bert H. Tackett Jr., 51, of Smithers, conspiracy and drug charges; Frank Triesch Jr., 30, of Charleston, attempted murder and malicious wounding.

Judge Charles King, March 13, 1:30 p.m.

Lexus M. Armbrester, 23, conspiracy and drug charges; Vincent Caleb Britton, 53, of Charleston, burglary, grand larceny and obtaining by false pretense; Cameron M. Chinn, 26, of Nitro, conspiracy and drug charges; Brittany Ann Cross, 54, of Nitro, conspiracy and drug charges; David L. Engle, 42, of Nitro, second and subsequent offense failure to register as a sex offender; Jonathan L. Hardman, 40, of Charleston, drug charges and forgery and uttering; Timothy Stephen Harris, 34, of Nitro, third and subsequent offense domestic battery, fleeing and third and subsequent offense domestic assault/battery, fleeing; Amber N. Hively, 33, of Dunbar, conspiracy and drug charges; James B. Huffman, 41, of Sumerco, drug charges and person prohibited from possessing a firearm; Robert L. Hunter, 28, of Charleston, conspiracy and drug charges; Nikki A. Turnage, 27, of Charleston, conspiracy and drug charges; Robert Michael Martin, age unknown, Charleston, embezzlement by a fiduciary; Randy Wallun Ng, 29, of South Charleston, first-degree robbery and third offense driving while license revoked for DUI; Chelsea Lynn Halstead, 23, of Tornado, first-degree robbery; Chad Everett Sands, 38, of St. Albans, grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle; Joseph Keith Sneed, 22, of Charleston, grand larceny and possession of stolen vehicle; Patrick William Stewart, 37, of South Charleston, conspiracy and drug charges; Amanda Danielle Hayes, 32, of Charleston, conspiracy and drug charges; Charles Eugene Thaxton, 41, of Charleston, third offense driving while license revoked for DUI and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Judge Duke Bloom, March 8, 8:30 a.m.

Brandon Anderson, 25, of Detroit, conspiracy and drug charges; William J. Blevins, 48, of Flint, Michigan, conspiracy and drug charges; Zachary Robert Fisher, 37, of Charleston, malicious wounding; David Freeman, 33, of Charleston, solicitation of a minor via computer, possession of child porn; Daniel E. Ganoe, 22, conspiracy and drug charges; Alexander Gigach, 51, of Cedar Grove, malicious wounding and domestic battery; Brian Keith Hanna, 57, of Charleston, burglary and grand larceny; Henon Wesley Snodgrass, 29, of Nitro, burglary and grand larceny; Tammy L. Hilton, 45, of Charleston, forgery and uttering and fraud and related activity in connection with an access device; Earl R. Hill, 63, conspiracy and drug charges; Michael Keith Legg, 42, of Charleston, burglary, battery and destruction of property; Amber Jo Mullins, 33, of Elkview, conspiracy and drug charges; Terrence L. Ramsey, 31, of Charleston, conspiracy and drug charges; Christopher Lee Rose Jr., 31, of Charleston, burglary; Tanner Andrew Ewing, 19, of Beckley, burglary; Krystal Suzann Rose, 37, burglary; Cammi Leann Watson, 33, of Cross Lanes, forged prescription; Donald Anthony White, 48, of Charleston, burglary and wanton endangerment.

Judge Tod Kaufman, March 13, 11 a.m.

Dennis Wesley Childress, 35, of Charleston, burglary and third and subsequent offense domestic battery; Shannon Dawayne Clements, 38, of Charleston, strangulation, first-degree robbery, fleeing in vehicle from police while DUI and fleeing in vehicle while DUI and fleeing in vehicle from police with indifference or safety laws; John Wesley Coiner, 31, of Charleston, possession of a stolen vehicle; William Edward Creathers, 51, of Cedar Grove, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device; Steven Ulah Hammon, 37, of Poca, escape; Herman Lee James Jr., 43, of St. Albans, conspiracy and drug charges; Roger Lee Province, 64, of South Charleston, failure to register as sex offender; Janelle Rush, 22, of Charleston, conspiracy, drug charges, domestic battery; David Ware, 46, of Cowen, sexual abuse by a parent guardian custodian or person in position of trust and displaying obscene material to a minor.

Judge James Stucky, March 17, 10 a.m.

Christopher D. Bennett, 35, of Elkview, grand larceny and burglary; Michael Everette Chesney Jr., 52, of Charleston, breaking and entering, grand larceny, and destruction of property; Robert Coffman, 34, of St. Albans, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device; Erin Bays, 33, of South Charleston, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device; Chad Allen Jones, 28, of Charleston, conspiracy and drug charges; Jessica Lee Mask, 33, of St. Albans, conspiracy and drug charges; Alexander Cho Smith, 31, of Charleston, wanton endangerment and person prohibited from possessing a firearm; Anthony Michael Thorne, 40, of Charleston, conspiracy, grand larceny and drug charges; Shannon Lee Winrow, 39, of Charleston, third and subsequent offense shoplifting.

Judge Joanna Tabit, March 17, 9:30 a.m.

James David Carr, 68, of Charleston, failure to register as sex offender; Marshall Ian Clark, 24, attempted murder, malicious wounding and wanton endangerment; Devon Parnell Coles, 24, of Charleston, burglary and first-degree robbery; Tony Wayne Redman, 43, of Charleston, burglary and first-degree robbery; Karl Darius Hughes, 25, of Charleston, burglary, domestic assault, brandishing and fleeing; Thomas Raymond Lizotte, 58, of Dunbar, conspiracy and drug charges.

Judge Carrie L. Webster, March 20, 10:30 a.m.

Louis C. Anderson, 34, of Cincinnati, conspiracy and drug charges; Chad Aaron Day, 28, of Charleston, attempted breaking and entering; Kristina Renea Griggs, 39, of Marmet, possession of stolen vehicle; Albert Leon Kidd Jr., 42, of St. Albans, fraud and related activity in connection with an access device; Nicholas Andrew Lilly, 36, of Charleston, malicious wounding and burglary; Thomas Edward Oxley Jr., 37, of Charleston, escape; Juan J. Rose, 37, of Charleston, conspiracy, drug charges, prohibited person from having a firearm.

JEFFERSON, Md. (AP) - West Virginia officials say a correctional officer has been suspended without pay after Maryland State Police say he shot another man during a road rage incident.

Media outlets reported Wednesday that the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety says the correctional officer has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. Police say no one has been charged at this time.

Police say two men driving on U.S. Route 340 near Jefferson on Tuesday got into an argument, pulled over and got out. As they argued, police say a 26-year-old Martinsburg, West Virginia, man, shot the other man, a 52-year-old from Sharpsburg, in the thigh and foot. Police say the wounded man was flown to a Baltimore hospital, but his injuries aren't considered life-threatening.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The youngest son of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton's running mate last year, was one of six people arrested while protesting against a rally in support of President Donald Trump at the Minnesota state Capitol building last weekend.

The protesters clashed with hundreds of Trump supporters who gathered at the Capitol rotunda in St. Paul on Saturday for one of several pro-Trump rallies held throughout the country.

Linwood "Woody" Kaine, of Minneapolis, and four other people were suspected of lighting a smoke bomb inside the Capitol, St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders said Wednesday. He said he didn't know the circumstances surrounding the sixth arrest, which was made by state troopers.

Kaine, 24, ran from the scene and was arrested about a block away after he resisted arrest, was sprayed with a chemical irritant and was taken to the ground, according to police. Kaine was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on a recommended second-degree riot charge.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges, finding insufficient evidence to substantiate the charge, spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein said Wednesday. The St. Paul City Attorney's Office was reviewing the case and didn't immediately reply to a message seeking comment.

Tim Kaine, a St. Paul native who is now a senator representing Virginia, and his wife, Anne Holton, released a statement following their son's arrest.

"We love that our three children have their own views and concerns about current political issues. They fully understand the responsibility to express those concerns peacefully," they said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia woman has been charged with setting a fire that killed her two young sons at their mobile home.

Media outlets report 29-year-old Molly Jo Delgado of Falling Waters was arrested Wednesday.

Assistant State Fire Marshal George Harms said in a criminal complaint that Delgado confessed to setting her children's beds on fire as her husband slept and leaving the home on Jan. 24. Delgado's husband opened a kitchen window and called for help. The boys ages 3 and 5 were pronounced dead at the scene.

Delgado was held in the Eastern Regional Jail on Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson. Jail records didn't indicate whether she has an attorney who could comment on the charges.