Man sues for return of seized property

WINFIELD - A Poca man is suing the city of South Charleston for the return of a fuel pump and other items taken from his home when police executed a search warrant. 

David Jordan filed the suit in Putnam Circuit Court on Aug. 13.

According to the suit, South Charleston police searched his Poca residence Jan. 23 and took a number of items, including a fuel pump and three 55-gallon petroleum barrels.

The search warrant was related to a fraudulent scheme to purchase gas and diesel at a reduced price from the BP Teays Valley Biscuit gas station in South Charleston, according to the suit. Jordan says he has not been charged in the scheme and the items seized are irrelevant to the case. He also alleges police have not properly stored his property.

He asked in the suit that the items be returned to him and the city be held responsible for any damage.

Nov. trial date set in 5-year-old's slaying

PRINCETON - A November trial date has been set for a Princeton man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter.

Ronald Holcomb is charged with first-degree murder in the January 2007 beating death of his daughter Brooklyn.

His trial has been moved to Kanawha County because of pretrial publicity.

Mercer County Circuit Judge William Sadler on Monday rescheduled the trial for Nov. 17.

Conservation money diverted, woman says

HUNTINGTON - A Kenova woman pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Huntington to embezzling $704,606 from a conservation district.

Marcia L. Masters, 43, was released on personal recognizance until her sentencing Dec. 1. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the amount she embezzled.

WINFIELD - A Poca man is suing the city of South Charleston for the return of a fuel pump and other items taken from his home when police executed a search warrant. 

David Jordan filed the suit in Putnam Circuit Court on Aug. 13.

According to the suit, South Charleston police searched his Poca residence Jan. 23 and took a number of items, including a fuel pump and three 55-gallon petroleum barrels.

The search warrant was related to a fraudulent scheme to purchase gas and diesel at a reduced price from the BP Teays Valley Biscuit gas station in South Charleston, according to the suit. Jordan says he has not been charged in the scheme and the items seized are irrelevant to the case. He also alleges police have not properly stored his property.

He asked in the suit that the items be returned to him and the city be held responsible for any damage.

Nov. trial date set in 5-year-old's slaying

PRINCETON - A November trial date has been set for a Princeton man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter.

Ronald Holcomb is charged with first-degree murder in the January 2007 beating death of his daughter Brooklyn.

His trial has been moved to Kanawha County because of pretrial publicity.

Mercer County Circuit Judge William Sadler on Monday rescheduled the trial for Nov. 17.

Conservation money diverted, woman says

HUNTINGTON - A Kenova woman pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Huntington to embezzling $704,606 from a conservation district.

Marcia L. Masters, 43, was released on personal recognizance until her sentencing Dec. 1. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the amount she embezzled.

Masters testified that she embezzled money from the Guyan Conservation District while serving as the district's administrative officer from 2004 to 2007. The district is under the control of the West Virginia Conservation Agency.

Businessman gets 18 months in tax case

CLARKSBURG - A businessman will spend 18 months in prison for failing to turn over to the federal government income and insurance taxes collected from employees.

George Steven Rogers of Mount Clare was sentenced Monday in federal court in Clarksburg. He also must spend three years on supervised release and make restitution of $205,873 to the federal government.

The 58-year-old Rogers had pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to one count of failure to pay federal income taxes.

Rogers was president of Maroma Foods Inc. Prosecutors say he deducted and collected more than $214,000 from workers for their income and federal insurance taxes from 2002 to 2004, but didn't turn the money over to the Internal Revenue Service.

St. Albans man arrested on meth lab charges

A St. Albans man was arrested Tuesday on charges of operating a methamphetamine lab in a home where four children live, according to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Steven Wayne Blake, 36, of St. Albans was charged with felonies of operating or attempting to operate a clandestine drug lab and with four counts of exposing children to meth, according to a criminal complaint filed by Cpl. M.B. Cummings.

Blake and his wife, Leah Blake, live in the Jefferson Avenue residence with four children, ages 14, 9, 5 and 2, according to the complaint.

Following an anonymous tip on Aug. 8, deputies responded to Blake's home Tuesday. When Blake opened the door, the officers smelled a "strong and distinct chemical odor" associated with meth production, according to the complaint.

Blake would not let deputies search the house, but they returned later Tuesday with a search warrant. During the search, deputies found a propane cylinder in the basement. In the trash outside, they found items used to make meth, including opened cold medicine packages, three bottles of hydrogen peroxide, two bottles of HEET gas line additive, gas generators, iodine bottles and matchbooks with the strike plates removed.

Blake, who was also arrested for operating a meth lab last year, was being held at South Central Regional Jail on Tuesday in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond.