Tag: Pratt

Former Pratt Mayor Given Probation for Drug Charges

A former West Virginia mayor has been given probation after he was charged with selling prescription pills.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports a federal judge sentenced former Pratt Mayor Gary Allen Fields on Thursday to three years of probation, as part of a plea agreement Fields had made with prosecutors.

Sixty-eight-year-old Fields had previously pleaded guilty in Charleston to distribution of oxycodone after he admitted to selling the pills to a Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office informant in April 2015.

He was indicted in June, about a week before he lost his re-election bid.

After two previous arrests in 2013 and 2014, residents petitioned for Fields’ removal from office. In 2014, a three-judge panel appointed by the state Supreme Court rejected the petition, deciding not to remove him from office.

Ex-Pratt Mayor Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge

The former mayor of a Kanawha County town has pleaded guilty to oxycodone distribution.

Ex-Pratt Mayor Gary Fields entered the plea Thursday in federal court in Charleston.

The 68-year-old Fields admitted selling six oxycodone pills to a confidential informant on April 23.

Fields is set for sentencing on Jan. 21.

Fields lost his re-election bid in June.

Pratt Mayor Say's He'll Step Down if Re-Elected

Pratt Mayor Gary Fields said he will step down if re-elected in an upcoming city election.

The Charleston Gazette reports Fields was arrested by Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday as part of a joint county and federal drug investigation into the distribution of narcotics. Fields was indicted by a federal grand jury this week on a charge of distributing oxycodone and is scheduled to appear for an arraignment June 11.

Officers say the crime happened April 23. Fields was also charged with drug possession in 2013 and a DUI in 2014.

Town elections are scheduled for Tuesday. Fields is running against Eric Holcomb, a town councilman.

Fields’ current term as mayor ends June 30.

Officials Investigate Whether Bones Found in Pratt are Part of Indian Burial Ground

Officials are investigating a site in Kanawha County to determine whether Indian remains were buried there.

The Charleston Gazette reports workers for West VirginiaAmerican Water on Monday discovered what could prove to be Indian remains in two locations while digging for a new water main in Pratt.

Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, says archaeologists from the state’s Historic Preservation Office visited the site Tuesday to determine who is responsible for the remains and begin the process of trying to get the remains buried.

David Cremeans, principal chief of the state’s Native American Indian Federation, says that if the remains are identified to be of Indian origin, they should be given to a respective tribe for reburial.

Skeletal Remains Found by Water Crew in Pratt

Authorities say old skeletal remains have been found by West Virginia American Water Co. employees while they were working in Pratt.

WCHS-TV reports deputies said the skeleton was found by water company workers along Washington Street about 11:30 a.m. Monday. A spokeswoman says crews were working on tying water lines to a new water main when the remains were found. She says the remains were found in two locations 40 feet apart.

Deputies say the remains may be from a Native American burial. The medical examiner’s office is investigating and consulting with the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.

Deputies say there is no reason to believe the skeleton would warrant a criminal investigation at this time.

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