Nickolas Brady Matthews

Nickolas Brady Matthews, 26, of 128 South First Ave., Paden City, pleaded guilty to count two of his felony charges Jan. 8 in Wetzel County Circuit Court.

Count two was possession of a controlled substance (heroin) with intent to deliver. As per the plea agreement, his count one charge of felony possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with intent to deliver was dismissed. Both charges allegedly occurred on Jan. 13 of last year. Matthews will serve one to 15 years in the West Virginia State Penitentiary for Men with credit for time served after 367 days. Other agreements to the plea include forfeiting all contraband found at Matthews’ residence and Matthews is ordered to pay all court costs.

After his second failure to appear in court, George D. Burch, 66, of 302 West Main St., Paden City, forced Judge David Hummel Jr. to have a capias warrant issued but not executed. It was ordered that Burch have until noon on Jan. 11 to report to adult probation officer John Lantz for in-home confinement. If Burch failed to report to officer Lantz, Burch would be arrested and taken to the Northern Regional Jail. Additionally, Burch’s attorney, Patricia Kurelac, requested permission to have Dr. Robert Rush, a doctor of psychology, make a visit to Burch’s home and perform a competency exam on Burch.

Burch faces a three-count indictment: count one, failure to update sex offender registry information, failing or refusing to report his move to a new address; count two, failure to register as a sex offender in the month of his birth to the State Police detachment to have allegedly occurred between the the dates of Sept. 1 and 30, 2007; and count three, failure to register as a sex offender in the month of his birth to the State Police detachment to have allegedly occurred between the dates of Sept. 1 and 30, 2008.

Also in circuit court was Fred Leslie Kirk, 39, of 168 Vine St., New Martinsville. Kirk was present with his lawyer, Jeremiah Gardner, to motion for sentence modification. Kirk has served 120 days of his one to five-year sentence in the West Virginia Penitentiary for Men. At this time Judge Hummel took the motion under consideration.

On Sept. 4 Kirk pleaded guilty to a felony count of failure to register as a sex offender in the month of his birth (October) to the State Police detachment. It was later discovered that Kirk could not read or write and is now pleading that he isn’t criminally responsible for his failure to register.

Lastly, Cynthia Longwell Nottingham, 34, of Court Street, Middlebourne, was present in Judge Hummel’s courtroom Friday. Nottingham waived her preliminary hearing and moved to a judicatory hearing set for Feb. 5. Nottingham and her counsel, Roger Weese, requested her bond be reduced, however the motion was denied and her bond remains at $10,000. Discovery was requested by the defendant and Judge Hummel ordered the discovery materials be tendered within two weeks. Nottingham’s return date is set for Feb. 5 at 10:30 a.m.

In 2008 Nottingham admitted to setting fire to her own home while her children were in the building and pleaded guilty to the misuse of funds of an elder person. She was placed on three years supervised probation. Additionally, in recent months Nottingham has been allegedly involved in shoplifting.