Sun and clouds are going to mix today with highs back in the nineties as we make out way into Junes last weekend
One Paintsville man has learned his fate for committing a federal hate crime. According to court documents, in Oct. 2020, Brian Adams, 24, reportedly joined a Louisiana fifth grade class on Zoom. Documents state Adams pleaded guilty to joining the classroom with a name resembling a racial slur. Adams then joined under a different name and called students and teachers slurs. He further threatened the class stating, “I’m gonna hang you by the tree.” He also reportedly recorded the video of the incident and uploaded it to a YouTube account. According to court documents, the video also revealed searches for images of swastikas. Adams’ IP address was tracked to his Paintsville home. In 2021, his home was searched by the FBI. According to FBI officials, Adams told them, “I said a lot of mean and racist things.” A federal court found that Adams’ actions were motivated by hate. Adams was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and one year of supervised release. He is to report to prison on July 29.
On Tuesday, around 5:30 p.m. officials with the Perry County Sheriff’s office received a report of a missing 14-year-old girl in the Delphia community by the teen’s father and sole guardian. During an investigation, officials discovered that Thomas Charles Lange, 18, of Lebanon, Tennessee was seen in the area where the teen went missing. Police then discovered that the teen was seen with Lange earlier in the day. When Lange discovered that the police were searching for him, he headed back towards Tennessee. During an attempt to flee, law enforcement stopped him in Bell County. In an interview, officials in Bell County learned that the young girl met Lange online, and that they planned for Lange to take her to her grandmother’s house in Tennessee. Lange was arrested and charged with kidnapping and custodial interference in relation to the missing teen.
The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office reported that they made a drug trafficking arrest on Monday, June 24. Deputies were patrolling the Toler Creek community when they stopped a vehicle driven by Devonia Bradford. Deputies suspected possible drug involvement and deployed a K9 who found crystal methamphetamine. A meth pipe, digital scales and plastic baggies were also found. Bradford, 46, of Harold, was charged with Trafficking in a Controlled Substance and was taken to the Floyd County Jail.
A Tomahawk man arrested on multiple charges Thursday suffered a medical emergency that prompted law enforcement to administer Narcan and provide life-saving support, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Justin Bellamy of the Martin County SO responded to a report of an intoxicated, aggressive man at a residence on Mollett Branch in Tomahawk who was refusing to leave. As deputies entered Mollett Branch Road, they observed a shirtless man exiting in a blue Chevy Silverado. 46-year-old Eric Bowens of Tomahawk faces charges of DUI, possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, assault on EMS personnel, fleeing or evading police on foot, and a bench warrant for court.
A study released by the Prison Policy Initiative says that Kentucky has a higher incarceration rate than any democratic country on earth. Mike Wessler with the Initiative says they pull these numbers from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and The World Prison Brief, and they show that Kentucky has an incarceration rate of 889 per 100,000 residents. Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird says it’s hard to compare criminal justice systems that vary from state to state and country to country. Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet says the Beshear-Coleman administration has been working to help those leaving incarceration successfully re-enter society.
