By Jean A. Flanagan
Special to Examiner
John W. Crites Sr., 84, of Marco Island, Fla., John W. Crites Jr., 54 and Kelly Crites, 57, both of Petersburg, were each indicted by the Hardy County Grand Jury on six counts of obtaining goods under false pretenses and six counts of conspiracy to obtain goods under false pretenses. The penalty for the felony offense of obtaining goods under false pretenses is not less than one year and not more than five years in prison and a fine not more than $2,500. The pen-alty for the conspiracy charge is not less than one year and not more than five years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000 or both.
The Crites family owned and operated Allegheny Wood Products in Petersburg for 50 years until it abruptly closed in February of this year.
The Crites’ were arraigned in Hardy County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Judge Michael Lorensen of Berkley County presided, following the recusal of Hardy County Circuit Judges H. Charles Carl III and Judge C. Carter Williams.
According to charging documents, Allegheny Wood, allegedly wrote checks to six loggers and/or logging companies to pay for timber delivered to the Allegheny Wood facility in Moore-field. When the logging companies tried to cash the checks, they found the check had been writ-ten on a closed account. Multiple attempts by the loggers to receive payment for the timber were unsuccessful.
The total amount of the checks to the six loggers was more than $68,500. In two cases, the amount of the checks exceeded $20,000.
Crites Sr., Crites, Jr and Kelly Crites all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Through their respective attorneys, the Crites’ requested copies of the Grand Jury transcripts and a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. The Crites’ also requested a speedy trial, meaning the cases would be tried during this term of court, which ends Feb. 3, 2025.
Kelly Crites’ attorney, Steven Ruby, said a motion to dismiss the charges would be coming shortly and called the proceedings “an egregious misrepresentation of the criminal process.”
Defense attorneys routinely request a transcript of the Grand Jury testimony, however, they are not entitled to it if the witness who testified to the Grand Jury will not testify at trial. Hardy County Prosecuting Attorney H. Orrin Staggers III, told the court the witness will not testify at trial. Judge Lorensen requested the attorneys put their request in the form of a written motion and Staggers will have ample time to respond.
The court and attorneys all agreed to schedule a pretrial hearing on Monday, Dec. 23 with a trial date of Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.
All of the charges contained in the above-referenced indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
