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Elkins man violates probation

Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong sent an Elkins man to jail Thursday for violating the terms of his probation after he was arrested for drinking and driving in Pennsylvania.

During a probation violation hearing in Randolph County Circuit Court, Justin Paul Robinson, 28, was remanded to the custody of the Randolph County Sheriff and the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority after he admitted to violating three conditions of his probation by traveling out of the state to attend a concert in Pennsylvania, consuming alcohol while there and being cited for driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Robinson was sentenced to probation in December 2012 after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of battery; as part of the plea agreement, Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Parker moved to dismiss three felony charges that had been pending against Robinson – two counts of burglary and one count of malicious wounding.

On Thursday, Wilfong asked Robinson if he’d read a recent story in the local newspaper about the DUI-related death of a local teenager, which occurred on Route 219 near Mill Creek.

Robinson said he had – and that the article served as a sobering wake-up call.

“(These violations) tell me you have no regard for the law, and I can’t trust you on an alternative sentence,” Wilfong said. “You went and got ripped. You could have killed yourself, you could have killed your friend (riding in the car with Robinson) and most notably, you could have killed someone on the road who wasn’t drinking and driving, and I can’t have that.”

“The original jail sentence is imposed,” she said.

Also in Circuit Court Thursday:

– Waleena Dawn Taylor, 38, of Elkins, was sentenced to six months in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, which Wilfong suspended in favor of placing Taylor on three years of supervised probation with the specific condition that she successfully complete the North Central Community Corrections program.

Wilfong also ordered Taylor to pay a $100 fine and $50 restitution to Walgreens. Taylor was indicted in February on one felony count of third-offense shoplifting for allegedly attempting to conceal dog breath mints and dog aspirin in her purse.

Taylor’s attorney, William T. Nestor, argued that due to her psychiatric and physical disabilities, she was not a “viable” candidate for the community corrections program, an assertion with which Assistant Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Lori Gray – and ultimately Wilfong – disagreed.

“We have plenty of people on disability who are in the community corrections program, and the probation office works to accommodate them,” Wilfong said.

“I can’t go to jail, or I’ll lose my disability,” Taylor interjected, interrupting Wilfong.

“Don’t interrupt me again or I guarantee I’ll send you to jail,” the judge warned.

Taylor also denied concealing the Walgreens’ items in her purse and said the only reason she’d entered into the plea agreement was so she could remain a free woman.

“I didn’t actually do it,” she said. “I just did the plea so I could stay out jail because I didn’t want my family to be homeless.”

“Did I force you into this plea agreement?” Nestor asked, turning to Taylor.

“No, you did not,” she conceded.

– David Paul Dailey, 37, an inmate at Huttonsville Correctional Center, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred on Jan. 3, 2012.

In June 2012, Dailey was indicted on two felony counts of offense committed by an inmate, four felony counts of retaliation against a public official or employee, and four misdemeanor counts of battery on a governmental representative.

Parker said Dailey’s attorney, Hawkins, had since directed his attention to information leading him to believe the felony charges weren’t warranted.

Sentencing is set for 9 a.m. July 31.

– Paul Bibbee Jr., 47, an inmate at Mt. Olive Correctional Center, was sentenced to one to 10 years in the state penitentiary on each of two counts of bribery in official and political matters, a felony; these sentences are to run consecutively for an effective sentence of two to 20 years.

– Barry Nelson Conrad, 49, of Mill Creek, pleaded guilty to one count of second-offense DUI, a misdemeanor.

Sentencing is set for 9 a.m. July 31.

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