Pedro man faces 10 years in prison

 

A Pedro man will spend the next decade in prison as punishment for stealing telephone line from multiple locations in Lawrence County.

Randy Depriest Jr., 30, of 272 Private Road 2174 County Road 41S, pleaded guilty to three counts of fourth-degree disrupting a public service and two counts of third-degree tampering with evidence.

Depriest was originally charged with 16 counts of disrupting a public service and 15 counts tampering with evidence but the remaining 26 counts were dropped as apart of a negotiated plea.

Prosecuting Attorney Brigham Anderson recommended the man serve 10 years in prison — three years for each tampering charge, 18 months for two of the public service charges, plus another at 12 months.

Judge Charles Cooper also ordered the man to pay more than $48,000 in restitution to AT&T jointly with co-defendant Brian Bloomfield.

Bloomfield pleaded guilty in June to 16 counts of disrupting a public service and 14 counts of tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The two men were arrested in March following a 10-month investigation into copper wire thefts across the county.

In other cases:

• Roger Bledsoe, 40, of 541 22nd St., Huntington, W.Va., was arraigned on a fifth-degree count of possession of drugs and misdemeanor possession of drug abuse instruments. Bledsoe pleaded not guilty.

Cooper continued bond from a lower court and set a pretrial for Aug. 28.

• Margaret Sparks, 32, of 1603 Luci Mae Drive, Flatwoods, Ky., was arraigned on a count of fifth-degree possession of drugs (oxycodone). Sparks pleaded not guilty.

Cooper set bond at $5,000 cash, surety or property and set a pretrial for Aug. 28.

• Timothy Powell, 42, of 227 County Road 407, South Point, was arraigned on a count of second-degree improperly discharging a firearm into or at a habitation and misdemeanor counts of menacing, aggravated menacing and criminal trespass. Powell pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Cooper set bond at $25,000 cash or surety and set a pretrial for Aug. 28.

• Sara Woomer, 27, of Rural Route 1 Box 138, Mason, W.Va., pleaded guilty to a count of fifth-degree receiving stolen property.

Cooper ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for Aug. 28.