Archived Court Cases No. 2

At the time of her arrest, Edwards was an employee of Neurological Associates. Edwards and Campbell confessed to phoning in forged prescriptions by using confidential information obtained at Edward’s office. After phoning in the prescriptions, the two women would pick up the illegal prescriptions at local pharmacies including:

The women further admitted that they had participated in the scheme for over a year.  Campbell was sentenced to 3 years and was placed on probation by the Judge. Edwards was sentenced to 5 years and was also placed on probation for 5 years by the Judge. 

Allen had been assisted by others in cleaning up the murder scene after he killed Jamil Butler. The apartment where the murder occurred had been cleaned, re-tiled, and painted. Someone had been hired to dispose of the body. Allen’s accomplices all pled guilty and testified against him at trial.

Carl Allen was convicted by a Fayette County Jury of Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence. The jury recommended life in prison and he was sentenced to just that. The co-defendants were each sentenced to jail for their parts in the clean up of the murder scene.

Allen’s case was appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. That Court reversed his murder conviction due to a technicality. When his case returned to the Fayette Circuit Court for a new trial, Allen pled guilty to the charge of Murder. He was sentenced to 34 years to serve in prison for his crimes. 

Farthing was indicted by the Fayette County Grand Jury after an investigation by the Kentucky State Police. An informant contacted Farthing and arranged for a sale of cocaine. Farthing negotiated the sale with the informant and the informant bought the cocaine from Farthing’s co-defendant, Timothy Maxberry. Maxberry, 28, was sentenced to 10 years and placed on probation by Judge VanMeter.

Farthing is currently serving a sentence for Receiving Stolen Property, Theft by Unlawful Taking, and 2 counts of being a Persistent Felony Offender in the First Degree from Scott and Fayette Counties. 

Farthing has 11 felony convictions as an adult. His criminal record includes:

Strow was sentenced to 5 years on each count, but his sentence was probated for a period of 5 years.  He was ordered to pay $5,808 in restitution at the rate of $100 per month.  By our count, it will take him almost 5 years to pay for the damage he caused. 

However, Stamp failed to meet this condition. She also failed to appear for a probation review and to report to her probation officer for a scheduled meeting. In March 2000, Stamp’s probation was revoked and she was sent to prison for 16 years. The 2 years in which Stamp was on probation, she only paid $250.00. 

Earlier that same evening, Mayberry had pistol-whipped three innocent people on Fifth Street, while a friend went through their pockets looking for money.   He then went to the Cave Bar.  He was 17 at the time and was refused entry to the bar.  He cursed the doorman and left in anger.  He bumped into Brian Runcie and Mayberry turned his anger on him. 

Mayberry tried to choke Runcie.  A struggle ensued and Mayberry took a semi-automatic pistol from his pocket and shot Runcie two times.  One bullet slammed into Runcie's shoulder and the other tore into the back of his head.  Brian Runcie died at the scene.

Warren "Bingo" Mayberry's Criminal Record:

Editor’s Note: With that kind of record, we must ask why such a dangerous criminal was permitted to remain on our streets.  Most of us thought that the primary purpose of government was to do all that it could to guarantee the safety of the public.   Apparently not.  No wonder the public is losing confidence in the criminal justice system.

The store owner called 911, and while he was still on the phone an off-duty police officer recognized the white Cadillac. The car was stopped and the robber was arrested.

Furman’s robbery conviction is his 7^th felony conviction. His felony record is as follows:

Editor’s Note: Six prior felony convictions and this convicted felon is still on the street to rob someone else at gunpoint. That’s ridiculous. The public is entitled to be protected from these career criminals. It is about time that our courts put the safety of the public ahead of the welfare of criminals.

Lexington, KY.  After a week-long trial, it took a Jefferson County jury 4 1/2 hours to find Ron Berry guilty of all 12 counts of 3rd Degree Sodomy.  They also fixed his punishment at 3 years in the penitentiary on each count, and recommended that they be served concurrently.

The six witnesses against the defendant testified that he had engaged in either anal or oral sex with them while they were teenagers, under 16 years of age, during the late 1970's and 1980's.  They also said that they never told anyone because they were ashamed.  The defendant denied their claims.  In the final analysis it came down to the word of the 6 witnesses, against the word of the defendant.  The jury obviously believed the witnesses.

The trial was moved to Jefferson County because of extensive publicity surrounding the two previous trials in Lexington, both of which ended in mistrials.  The first, in 1998, ended as a result of a dead-locked jury, and the second was cut short because a witness against the defendant testified that he had taken a "lie-detector test."  Evidence of a polygraph examination is inadmissible in trials.

The defendant appeared in Fayette Circuit Court for final sentencing on May 5, 2000.  The Judge sentenced Berry to 3 years in prison.   He set a $10,000 appeal bond which allows him to remain out of custody pending the outcome of his appeal. 

Lexington, KY.  It took a Fayette Circuit Court Jury less than two hours to find Jonathon Goforth and Virginia Caudill guilty of the March 15, 1998, brutal beating death of 73 year old Lonetta White. In addition to being found guilty of intentionally murdering her, both killers were also found guilty of Robbery, Burglary, Arson and Tampering with Physical Evidence.

On March 24, 2000, both were sentenced to Death by the Judge.  

Lexington, KY.   Stephen Pennie broke into his former employer's business, Hall's Moving Service. While there he stole checks which he later cashed for $2,438.75. The defendant pled guilty, and the prosecutor recommended that he serve 3 years in prison.

The defendant asked the judge to give him a 2^nd chance to show that he had changed his ways. The judge did, and placed him on probation for 5 years. During his probation, Pennie was ordered to participate in drug treatment, have a job, pay restitution and report to his probation officer. He only reported twice, and a probation-violation warrant was issued for his arrest.  He was a fugitive for six months.

He was finally arrested and jailed during the last week of December, 1999. Again he asked the judge to give him yet another "2^nd chance."  The judge did, and released him again from jail with the same conditions he had previously ordered 11 months earlier when he gave him his first 2^nd chance.

Three days later Pennie again violated the conditions of his probation. He was drug tested and showed positive for cocaine. In addition, he only reported to his probation officer one time. He has once again fled, another warrant was issued for his arrest, and once again he is a fugitive. 

Lexington, KY.   On January 21, 2000 Ruben Rios Salinas (also known as Gerald Ruben) was sentenced in the Fayette Circuit Court.  The Judge imposed the jury verdict of life without the possibility of parole.

Salinas was convicted of kidnapping and killing 65 year-old Aubrey Nuckolls, a former Lexington firefighter, whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of his car in Jessamine County in October, 1998.  DNA evidence and witness statements identified Salinas as the person who hid the car and body.  It was also proven that after Nuckolls' disappearance, Salinas made calls to Nuckolls' loved ones making threats and demanding ransom.

The motive appeared to arise out of a marijuana trafficking deal.  Both Salinas and Nuckolls had prior felony convictions for marijuana trafficking. 

Lexington, KY.   Barry Alexander, a former Fayette County Deputy Sheriff, was convicted of Reckless Homicide in the 1994 death of Robert A. Nesbitt.  Nesbitt was killed when Alexander's cruiser broadsided Nesbitt's car.  Alexander's vehicle was traveling over 100 miles per hour in response to an emergency call that had been canceled earlier.

The judge sentenced Alexander to one year in the penitentiary, but probated that sentence on the condition that he serve 60 days on work-release.