Parole

Dear Editor: Hank Meridith, serving time for the murder of Teresa Larson, has served 15 years. He is now up for parole. The gory details of this crime make it our business to see that he remains in jail as long as possible. Teresa was due to start teaching at Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville when she went missing. Much later, her body was found wrapped in an old carpet and thrown aside like a piece of trash. In my opinion Hank Meridith's sentence was not appropriate to fit his crime.

STANFORD - A former truck driver on parole for striking and killing a police officer in Tennessee was caught driving last month despite his suspended license because he needed a pack of cigarettes, he told The Advocate on Monday. James Fitzgerald Jr., 26, of Walnut Grove Lane, Hustonville, was arrested April 29 after a Hustonville officer saw him squeal his tires and fishtail in a store parking lot. He was arrested and charged with reckless driving, improper tag and driving on a suspended license.

The following people were booked into the Jessamine County Detention Center on March 25, 2013, according to jail records: • Andy Mastin, 38, charged with parole violation and non-payment of fines • Stephen R. Krakowski, 60, charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, careless driving, and violation of conditions of release

Correction In an Associated Press story from Mississippi published in the Sun Saturday about the parole of convicted killer Douglas Hodgkin, Bill Gillies of Davenport, Iowa, brother of the victim Jean Elizabeth Gillies, was incorrectly quoted as saying he didn't understand how Gillies could come up for parole. The story should have said he didn't understand how Hodgkin could come up for parole. Winchester Kiwanis to meet at St. Agatha The Winchester Kiwanis Club's meeting Wednesday will be a visit to the St. Agatha Academy's health fair.

STANFORD - A Pulaski County man who led authorities on an off-road pursuit up a creek May 31 was indicted Friday by a Lincoln County grand jury. Rodney H. Davis, of 3790 Ky. 70 in Eubank, faces one count of possession of a handgun by a felon, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and one count of second-degree fleeing and evading police. Pulaski Sheriff John Wood told The Interior Journal June 1 that a pair of his deputies were helping a probation and parole officer locate Davis, who was wanted for violating his parole.

HARRODSBURG- The Kentucky Supreme Court has vacated the sentence of life without parole for confessed killer Louis Lee Anderson and remanded the case to Mercer County Circuit Court for resentencing. No date has been set yet for a hearing. Anderson pleaded guilty to the 2006 robbery and murder of retired teacher Louise Pulliam of Harrodsburg and was given life without parole by Judge Darren Peckler. He appealed the sentence, however, and the Supreme Court ruled recently that Anderson, who was 17 at the time of the murder, should have been sentenced as a juvenile because he was considered a youthful offender at the time of his indictment.

A Louisville man pleaded guilty Thursday to raping a Danville woman and now faces more than 20 years in prison. Lawrence Peyton, 27, agreed to plead guilty to first-degree rape, sodomy, assault and burglary charges, and being a persistent felony offender, in exchange for a jail sentence of 20 years. Boyle Circuit Judge Darren Peckler is considering the plea arrangement. Final sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 6. Police said Peyton forced his way into a Danville woman's residence in March 2004.

Dear Editor, In a letter published Nov. 13 in The Advocate-Messenger from Terry Bugg, he wrote, "On a local newscast it was stated that the court system would have to retry a person because he was wrongfully sentenced. Bull. The newscast stated the person on trial for a crime committed in Mercer County was tried as an adult when he was only 17 years of age. " The newscast did not state that Lee Anderson is being retried. He is not. He is being resentenced. He pleaded guilty and agreed to a sentence of life in prison without parole issued by Boyle-Mercer Circuit Judge Darren Peckler.

A local man who pleaded guilty to 15 counts of first-degree sexual abuse in April was sentenced to five years in prison on each count Tuesday by Boyle Circuit Judge Darren Peckler. The 15 five-year sentences for William F. Coffey, 60, of 692 Bryants Camp Road, Lancaster, will run concurrently. Peckler pronounced the sentence after hearing Coffey apologize to his "family, friends and everyone this affected," saying he was "embarrassed. " Defense attorney Ephraim Helton requested probation for Coffey, submitting letters of character commendation as well as statements citing Coffey's poor health and otherwise clean police record, but Peckler said community standards mandated jail time.

President gives Appalachia a reason for hope Dear Paper: I would like to thank the EPA and President Obama for sticking by his campaign promise and putting a freeze on mountaintop removal coal mining permits. It gives me hope to see our president taking a stand to protect our mountains, our streams and our future. In February, the Fourth Circuit Court made a terrible decision in favor of the coal industry, opening up 100 permits and more than 200 miles of streams for destruction from mountaintop removal coal mining.

The following people were booked into the Jessamine County Detention Center on March 25, 2013, according to jail records: • Andy Mastin, 38, charged with parole violation and non-payment of fines • Stephen R. Krakowski, 60, charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, careless driving, and violation of conditions of release

A Louisville man was arrested Monday night during a traffic stop on Hustonville Road. Boyle County Deputy Sheriff Derek Robbins stopped a vehicle driven by Ryan Spaw, 21, of Louisville.  Sheriff Marty Elliott said Spaw was wanted in Louisville for parole violation. “A canine was deployed and sniffed the exterior of the vehicle,” Elliott said, adding the search led to the passenger door. Multiple syringes and a spoon containing possible heroin residue was found, Elliott said.

STANFORD - A Pulaski County man who led authorities on an off-road pursuit up a creek May 31 was indicted Friday by a Lincoln County grand jury. Rodney H. Davis, of 3790 Ky. 70 in Eubank, faces one count of possession of a handgun by a felon, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and one count of second-degree fleeing and evading police. Pulaski Sheriff John Wood told The Interior Journal June 1 that a pair of his deputies were helping a probation and parole officer locate Davis, who was wanted for violating his parole.

HARRODSBURG ? A Harrodsburg man who recently served time in prison for trafficking in prescription drugs has been indicted again on similar charges. Omer Leon Devine, 62, was indicted last week by a Mercer County grand jury on two counts of trafficking in Methadone and two counts of trafficking in hydrocodone on Aug. 14 and Aug. 26. Devine was arrested Friday and remains in the Boyle County Detention Center under a $60,000 bond, a jail spokeswoman said Wednesday. Devine, of 122 S. Main St., pleaded guilty in 2006 to eight counts of trafficking in controlled substances such as morphine, Lortab, Xanax, Zoloft and testosterone from the pool hall he operated on Main Street and his adjoining residence.

By TODD KLEFFMAN tkleffman@amnews.com STANFORD - It took police more than six years to make the case, but it took jurors only two hours to find Jamarkos Campbell guilty of murdering Ryan Shangraw and Bo Upton. The Lincoln Circuit Court jury deliberated another hour before recommending that Campbell receive the maximum sentence of life in prison without being eligible for a parole hearing for 25 years. Actually, jurors recommended Campbell serve 50 years - 25 years for each murder - before going up for parole, twice as long as the maximum sentence allowed under Kentucky law for a juvenile.

President gives Appalachia a reason for hope Dear Paper: I would like to thank the EPA and President Obama for sticking by his campaign promise and putting a freeze on mountaintop removal coal mining permits. It gives me hope to see our president taking a stand to protect our mountains, our streams and our future. In February, the Fourth Circuit Court made a terrible decision in favor of the coal industry, opening up 100 permits and more than 200 miles of streams for destruction from mountaintop removal coal mining.

Correction In an Associated Press story from Mississippi published in the Sun Saturday about the parole of convicted killer Douglas Hodgkin, Bill Gillies of Davenport, Iowa, brother of the victim Jean Elizabeth Gillies, was incorrectly quoted as saying he didn't understand how Gillies could come up for parole. The story should have said he didn't understand how Hodgkin could come up for parole. Winchester Kiwanis to meet at St. Agatha The Winchester Kiwanis Club's meeting Wednesday will be a visit to the St. Agatha Academy's health fair.

Former Winchester resident Douglas Hodgkin, who was convicted of raping and murdering a pregnant college student in 1986, will be released on parole Monday and will return to Kentucky. Hodgkin was granted parole Feb. 17 by a 3-2 vote of the Mississippi Parole Board after serving 22 years of a life sentence for the murder of University of Mississippi graduate student Jean Elizabeth Gillies. He was eligible for parole because he was sentenced prior to Mississippi enacting a life-without-parole law. Hodgin will not have to register as a sex offender because there was no law requiring it at the time of the murder.

A former Winchester resident was recently paroled after serving 22 years of a parole-eligible life sentence for the 1986 capital murder of a pregnant University of Mississippi graduate student. Douglas Hodgkin, now 43, was convicted of murdering 24-year-old Jean Elizabeth Gillies, whom authorities said was found gagged, with her hands tied behind her back. Hodgkin had dated Gillies for about five weeks and testified at his trial that someone else attacked and killed her in her Oxford apartment while he slept.

Dear Editor, In a letter published Nov. 13 in The Advocate-Messenger from Terry Bugg, he wrote, "On a local newscast it was stated that the court system would have to retry a person because he was wrongfully sentenced. Bull. The newscast stated the person on trial for a crime committed in Mercer County was tried as an adult when he was only 17 years of age. " The newscast did not state that Lee Anderson is being retried. He is not. He is being resentenced. He pleaded guilty and agreed to a sentence of life in prison without parole issued by Boyle-Mercer Circuit Judge Darren Peckler.