Salyersville, Ky – A former Magoffin County High School teacher has indicated he is ready to plead guilty in a federal enticement case. Forty-three-year-old Jason Back of Salyersville is accused of using social media to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. His attorney has asked to change his plea, and a re-arraignment hearing is set for January twelfth in federal court in Ashland. If he pleads guilty to the original charge, he faces anywhere from five years to life in prison. Back also faces related state charges in Magoffin Circuit Court, with a pretrial conference set for January fifteenth.
Pikeville, Ky – A Pikeville woman has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to meth trafficking and DUI. Court records say 59-year-old Peggy Sue Charles, of Winns Second Street, was given a five-year prison sentence, probated for three years, for first-degree trafficking in less than two grams of methamphetamine, and two days in jail, with credit for two days served, on a DUI charge. The sentence followed a recommendation from the Pike Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Charles was arrested March 3 after Pikeville Police Officer Justin Prater stopped her vehicle and reported finding multiple separate bags of meth. The trafficking charge was amended down from an original charge involving two grams or more.
Floyd County, Ky – Floyd County deputies say a Pike County man threatened to kill an officer and his family during an arrest following a domestic violence complaint. Deputies were called to a home on Barn Branch, where a woman reported her boyfriend, sixty-five-year-old Richie Ward of Elkhorn City, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, causing her head to hit him in the mouth. After Ward was arrested, the deputy says Ward threatened to kill him, burn down his house with his family inside, and claimed to be part of a motorcycle gang. Ward is charged with second-degree terroristic threatening, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, along with misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest.
Rowan County, Ky – A 37-year-old man was found dead in Rowan County Monday afternoon, according to the Rowan County Coroner’s Office.Rowan County Coroner John Northcutt said a worker on South Tolliver Road called 911 after discovering a body in the woods near the roadway. Emergency crews and Morehead Police responded and confirmed the man was deceased, and Northcutt pronounced him dead at 1:13 p.m. Authorities say they do not suspect foul play at this time, but the case remains under investigation.