Blakeman was taken to the Jessamine County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $150,000 full-cash bond.
The case remains under investigation by JSO.
Judge denies motion to dismiss Kearns DUI case
Jessamine County District Judge Janet Booth denied a motion to dismiss a drunken-driving case against professional baseball player Austin Kearns on May 24.
Kearns was pulled over by off-duty Lexington police officer Todd Hart on Feb. 12 in Jessamine County after Hart had observed Kearns’ Cadillac Escalade driving erratically on U.S. 68, according to a sheriff’s report. Hart and Jessamine sheriff’s department Sgt. Todd Sponcil had relayed messages to each other through a dispatcher prior to the stop. Sponcil later arrived on the scene and arrested Kearns.
Kearns’ lawyers had argued in a hearing May 17 that Hart was out of his jurisdiction and did not have the legal authority to pull Kearns over. Hart testified he believed he had received an official request for assistance from Sponcil, and Sponcil testified he believed he had made an official request through the dispatcher for Hart to stop Kearns if the Lexington officer had probable cause.
The case goes back before the court Tuesday for a status hearing.
Relay for Life set for Friday
The Relay for Life Jessamine County will kick off with a survivor celebration dinner at 5:30 p.m. A survivor lap will start the night’s event at 7 p.m. The event will be at the track at West Jessamine Middle School. If you are a cancer survivor and would like to join in the event, RSVP to Julie Harvey at 859-260-8295 or julie.harvey@cancer.org. For more information on the event, visit www.relayforlife.org/jessamine.
Former bank employee gets prison for fraud
The U.S. District Court in Lexington handed down a sentencing last week for 55-year-old Debra P. Bains after she pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in March. Bain signed a plea agreement, part of which was sealed in court documents as of Tuesday, and paid restitution in full to Farmer’s Bank, according to what was available in court records.
The maximum sentencing for bank fraud, which is a felony offense, can include no more than 30 years imprisonment, a $1 million fine and five years supervised release, plus a special assessment of $100 at the time of the plea and restitution, if applicable. Twenty-one people wrote letters of character reference to the court asking that Bain receive some form of punishment other than imprisonment for the crime in order to allow her to take care of her ailing mother and other family members with medical problems. But according to court records, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jennifer B. Coffman gave Bain a sentencing of 12 months and one day in prison, three years of supervised release and the $100 special assessment, the documents said. The documents say Bain will report to start her sentence in mid-July.
