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Cops and Courts

Attorney general announces $700K settlement

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced that consumers who were tricked by TurboTax’s owner Intuit into paying for free tax services will begin receiving checks from a $728,699.97 settlement — part of a nationwide $141 million multistate settlement announced in May 2022. Approximately 4.4 million consumers nationwide will receive checks in the mail from the multistate settlement. Eligible consumers will be contacted by email about the settlement. Checks will be mailed throughout this month. “This company allegedly took money from consumers who thought they ...

‘Bad batch’ could cause second overdose spike in two weeks

Area health officials are once again predicting a spike in drug overdoses is about to hit the Morgantown area after an alleged “bad batch” wreaked havoc in the Columbus, Ohio, area.  Monongalia County Health Department has gotten word that a new overdose spike has been issued in the ...

Gov. repeats frustration over jails staffing

Gov. Jim Justice, who declared a staffing emergency in West Virginia’s corrections system last August, repeated this week a statement suggesting futility in working with legislators to address the problem. “I twice have sent bills up in regard to locality pay for our corrections officers. We didn’t get it done,” Justice said during a broad-ranging briefing. The issue with corrections staffing continues to linger, with a vacancies level at 1,022, according to the most recent update to lawmakers. That’s a 27% vacancy rate for corrections workers across the jails ...

Hazelton corrections officers charged for 2019 inmate assault

Two corrections officers from United States Penitentiary Hazleton are facing charges over a March 21, 2019, incident involving the assault of a prisoner.  According to U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld’s office, Robert David Sims, 40, of Bruceton Mills, and Joshua David Sines, 38, of ...

Two sentenced to federal prison for 2020 drug crimes

Two men were sentenced in United States District Court this week for selling large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine in the Morgantown area.  Court records show that prior to Monday’s sentencing, Aaric Murray, 33, of Morgantown, and Richard Kirkland Johnson, 26, of Detroit, ...

One jailed, one dead after child reports drug overdose

A Morgantown man is being held at North Central Regional Jail after State Police responded to a double overdose report last weekend that was allegedly called in by a 7-year-old child.  According to the criminal complaint filed by Senior Trooper V.L. Marra, once on scene troopers found ...