About 12 years ago, Michael Maupin lost his right to vote in Virginia because of a felony drug conviction. But Maupin has hope for the future because he just received a letter from Gov. Bob McDonnell restoring his civil rights.
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Rappahannock Forecast
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 Thunderstorm 77°/57° |  Chance of Rain 59°/43° |  Clear 66°/45° |
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This Week’s Paper
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Crime & Courts
Ex-felon’s voting rights, and hopes, restored
For Virginia inmates, little hope of parole
The Virginia Parole Board last year granted parole in less than 4 percent of the cases it considered. Even old men – prisoners in their 70s and 80s who have served decades behind bars – were routinely denied parole.
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Prosecutors seek to revoke bond in Deal murder case
Fauquier County prosecutors want a murder suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head committed to a hospital for 24-hour care. The Fauquier Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office filed an emergency motion to revoke the bond of Judy Kay Deal and to have her committed to Western State Hospital. A circuit judge will consider the...
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Crime and Courts for May 16
Castleton resident Ethan Cody Newcamp was issued a bond by Judge J. Gregory Ashwell in Rappahannock County District Court Tuesday morning (May 14). The 19-year-old Newcamp, who is charged with one count each of grand larceny and entering a house to commit assault and battery, has a trial date June 4.
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Accidents lead to DUI arrests
During the early morning hours Saturday (April 27), Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Deputy M. Dodson responded to the scene of a motor vehicle crash on U.S. 522 at Jericho Road. Earlysville resident Dawn Graves Wells, 47, was charged with driving under the influence. She is scheduled to appear in Rappahannock County General District Court June...
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Carpet tools were stolen, court says
For what the prosecution called a vengeful theft of tools, a former Early's Carpet employee was found guilty of grand larceny in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon (April 23). Also, a Castleton man pleaded guilty to grand larceny and a man accused of assaulting a deputy is denied bond.
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Fatal crash driver: 2 months in jail
James Warren Cox, the 67-year-old Tappahannock man whose out-of-control 1967 Austin Healey convertible crashed head-on into a group of motorcyclists on a sunny Sunday last fall in Sperryville, killing one and injuring several more, was found guilty of reckless driving Tuesday. He is appealing the decision.
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Castleton man pleads guilty to child endangerment
Joseph Anthony Lenchick, half of the Castleton couple facing child abuse and cruelty charges, pleaded guilty to a single charge of child endangerment in Rappahannock County Circuit Court.
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Photo: Between a rock and . . .
Rescuers work to remove driver Stephanie G. Beasley, 53, of Amissville, from her 1997 Toyota Camry at about 7 p.m. Saturday (April 6) in the Thornton River. Following an investigation, Virginia State Police Trooper B.R. Johnson charged Beasley with driving under the influence of drugs after her car, headed westbound on U.S. 211 at...
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Chase leads to 11 charges for 20-year-old
A 20-year-old from Rixeyville remains in Rappahannock County Jail today, facing 11 felony and misdemeanor charges after he allegedly chased another vehicle and tried to run it into a ditch on Richmond Road in Amissville Saturday night (March 23).
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Governor signs law targeting synthetic drugs
Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed into law legislation to expand the list of prohibited chemicals used in making synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs. McDonnell announced Wednesday that he had signed House Bill 1941, which included an emergency clause making it effective immediately.
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Attempted murder charge dropped in Castleton child abuse case
In circuit court, an attempted murder charge is dropped against Brenda Holly Lyons-Lenchick in exchange for the Castleton woman's guilty plea to child abuse and cruelty charges; a jury sends a Sperryville "sovereign citizen" to jail; two are indicted on drug-related charges.
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Nine months in jail for Chester Gap rape
After an emotional hour of pre-sentencing testimony, a Front Royal man who pleaded guilty in November to aggravated sexual battery was given nine months in jail in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Thursday morning (Feb. 21).
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Copper thief owes $12,000 to Aileen owner
Restitution amount in the case of Austin Duane Settle, the 26-year-old Castleton resident convicted of committing six felonies at the former Aileen factory in Flint Hill, was set in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Thursday morning (Feb. 7).
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Dad’s drug offenses spell a year in jail
A Chester Gap man charged with possessing schedule II drugs, distributing oxycodone and child abuse was sentenced to a year in jail in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Wednesday morning.
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Sheriff’s Report for Jan. 31
On Jan. 14, Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Deputy M.C. Dodson stopped a vehicle on Warren Avenue for not displaying vehicle tags. The driver, 33-year-old Robert Wells of Toledo, Ohio, was found with an undisclosed amount of marijuana. Wells was charged with misdemeanor possession and driving with a suspended license. He is scheduled to appear in...
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Aileen thief gets 17 months in jail
Austin Duane Settle, the 26-year-old Castleton resident convicted of committing six felonies at the former Aileen factory in Flint Hill was sentenced to 17 months in jail Tuesday morning (Jan. 22).
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Grand jury indicts Rixeyville man accused of assaulting deputy
Among indictments handed down by the grand jury convened Monday (Jan. 14) was one naming Rixeyville resident Keith Allen Alther, who is charged with one count of felony assault and battery on a county sheriff’s deputy on Oct. 19.
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Counterfeiter sentenced to 18 months in jail
Paul Owen Fincham, the Castleton man charged with multiple counts of producing counterfeit bills, was among five defendants sentenced in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Thursday morning (Jan. 3).
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Judge rules couple’s rights not violated
A judge ruled Friday (Dec. 28) that interviews of Brenda Holly Lyons-Lenchick and Joseph Anthony Lenchick, the Castleton couple facing child abuse and cruelty charges, are admissible when the case goes to trial.
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Timber thief sentenced to eight months
Miriam L. White, a former Sperryville tenant of James William “Bill” Fletcher III, was sentenced to eight months in jail in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Friday morning (Dec. 21) on four counts of grand larceny.
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Lenchick interviews could be suppressed
Defense attorneys for Brenda Holly Lyons-Lenchick and Joseph Anthony Lenchick, the Castleton couple facing child abuse and cruelty charges, have filed motions to suppress the interviews of the couple.
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Gun thief sentenced to six months
A Front Royal man charged with one count of grand larceny and a count of felony firearms possession was sentenced Wednesday morning (Dec. 12) in Rappahannock County Circuit Court.
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Wanted in theft case
The Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the identity of two men and two women appearing on security-camera footage, in connection with a theft at Ginger Hill Antiques.
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Driver charged in fatal crash
Virginia State Police trooper Paul Domingoes filed a reckless driving charge Tuesday against the driver of the vintage sports car that plowed into a group of motorcyclists, killing one and injuring several others.
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Former chef pleads to animal cruelty charge
Absent the testimony of the only reported witness to the crime, former local chef Anthony Robert Ahrens pleaded guilty Monday (Nov. 26) in Rappahannock County Circuit Court to a reduced charge of misdemeanor animal cruelty.
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Break-in ‘follower’ gets probation
Dennis Charles McGillivray, a 19-year-old Amissville resident, was sentenced to three years of supervised probation last Friday (Nov. 16) in Rappahannock County Circuit Court.
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Caregiver is alleged embezzler
The Sperryville woman hired last year to care for the ailing former mayor of Washington was indicted yesterday on 10 counts of felony embezzlement.
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Aileen plant copper thief pleads guilty
A 26-year-old Castleton man pleaded guilty to six felony charges in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Tuesday (Oct. 23).
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Counterfeiter pleads guilty
A Castleton man charged with producing counterfeit bills pleaded guilty to all charges in Rappahannock County Circuit Court on Oct. 4.
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Bow hunter dies in ATV accident
A Manassas bow hunter died in Rappahannock County after his four-wheeler overturned on top of him during a weekend hunting trip sometime Saturday.
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Sex crimes earn Hilley 17 months
Jury also finds Miriam White stole timber from landlord Fletcher In Rappahannock County Circuit Court during the last week, a 21-year-old Washington resident was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for two sex crimes, and a jury convicted a former tenant of a property owned by William James “Bill” Fletcher of...
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Crime and Courts for Sept. 20
During a traffic stop on Rollins Ford Road last Friday (Sept. 14), Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Koglin found that Ismael Ramirez Martinez, 40, of Amissville, was driving without a license and was an illegal alien. Further investigation revealed a loaded .22 caliber handgun concealed in the vehicle, along with a loaded .22 long...
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High-speed motorcycle chase ends in . . . jail
The motorcyclist who led a state trooper on a high-speed peak-season chase last year was sentenced Monday (Sept. 10) in Rappahannock County Circuit Court to nine months in jail.
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Last defendant sentenced in arson case
The final defendant in last August’s break-in and arson case was sentenced Tuesday morning (Aug. 28) in Rappahannock County Circuit Court.
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Deputy assault earns man 18 months in jail
Among the cases in Rappahannock County courts over the last week was the sentencing of 59-year-old Michael Lawrence Nelson of Boston, who will spend a year and a half in jail for assaulting two sheriff’s deputies last November. General District Court Judge J. Gregory Ashwell also appointed a public defender and set a hearing...
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Alleged ‘cat murder’ trial is postponed
The trial of Anthony Robert Ahrens – the former county resident and local chef accused of dropping a cat into a pen full of dogs, where the cat died – took another turn last Tuesday (Aug. 2) when a key witness failed to appear for a scheduled jury trial in Rappahannock County Circuit Court.
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Counterfeiting case to grand jury
The case against a Castleton man charged with producing counterfeit bills will come before a grand jury Sept. 10.
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Crime and Courts for July 26
Wreck leads to DUI arrest A 34-year-old Amissville woman was charged with driving under the influence and refusal (to take blood- or breath-based alcohol tests) after her car wound up in a ditch near the Laurel Mills Store in Castleton at 12:55 a.m. Wednesday, July 18. Rappahannock County Sheriff Connie C. Smith said Nicole...
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Crime and Courts for July 12
Two more sentenced in Grand View Arson; four indictments handed down by Rappahannock County Circuit Court grand jury.
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