Insurance fraud, other cases headed to grand jury
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
Numerous felony arrest cases will be headed to the grand jury later this month, including an insurance fraud case involving a Mountain Brook man, drug-related cases and others.
Adrian Geeting of Anniston was arrested on May 5 and charged with use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia. He has since pleaded guilty to that charge.
Geeting was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended over 12 months unsupervised probation, and a fine of $250, as well as paying the bond fee, booking fee, court cost, and attorney fees. He must also have a successful completion of the court referral program with court referral officer Rick Coleman.
Another case involving three illegal immigrants who were arrested February 20 in connection with thefts that occurred in Kellyton late last year resulted in their three cases being dismissed.
Those arrested were Baltazar Sanchez Caballero, Armando Rojo Lugardo and Maximiliano Perez Vasquez, all of Mexico.
Caballero was charged with first-degree receiving stolen property. Lugardo and Vasquez were each charged with third-degree receiving stolen property.
As reported previously, because all the charges were felonies, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was notified of their arrests.
At the time, ICE placed a hold on all three of them. Lugardo and Caballero were picked up by ICE on March 13, and all three cases were dismissed on April 10 based on the district attorney’s motion to dismiss, stemming from the men being picked up by ICE.
The grand jury will convene October 20-24, and many other cases will be presented to the grand jury at that time to see whether the grand jury will issue indictments in those cases.
Cases that will be presented to the grand jury include:
- Jacario Kelly, of Goodwater, arrested February 8 and charged with third-degree domestic violence and resisting arrest by the Goodwater Police Department and second-degree assault to an officer and disarming a law enforcement officer by the Sheriff’s Office.
- Jeremy Dennis, of Mountain Brook, arrested March 25 and charged with first-degree insurance fraud, second-degree forgery for altering a police report and obscuring the identity of a vehicle.
- Justin Powell, of Rockford, arrested April 12 and charged with destruction of property by a prisoner, resisting arrest, failing to obey a police officer, and obstructing government operations.
- Brandon Acklin, of Sylacauga, an inmate who was arrested May 12 and charged with second-degree promoting prison contraband.
- Connie Hargrove, of Anniston, arrested May 5 and charged with possession of a controlled substance and use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.
- Justis Stillwell, who had no address provided and said he was homeless, arrested May 13 and charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, obstructing justice using false identification and possession of drug paraphernalia.
- Robert Shutes, of Goodwater, arrested June 27 and charged with chemical endangerment of a child.
- Suzie George, of Goodwater, co-defendant in the case with Shutes, arrested June 27 and charged with chemical endangerment of a child.
- Dexter Keith, of Alpine, arrested July 1 and charged with possession of a controlled substance (Xanax) and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
- Willis Norris, of Alexander City, arrested July 13 and charged with two counts of third-degree burglary, two counts of fourth-degree theft of property, possession of burglary tools, third-degree criminal mischief, and second-degree criminal trespass.
These cases will be presented to the grand jury, where jurors will hear the prosecutor’s evidence and determine if there is probable cause to believe the defendant is responsible for committing a felony crime.
If a majority of the grand jurors vote in favor, an indictment is issued, and the defendant is arraigned in court, at which time the indictment is read, and the defendant enters a plea. The case then proceeds through the court process and may potentially go to trial.
If there is not enough evidence and a majority of the grand jurors feel no felony was committed or that the individual did not commit a felony, then the grand jury issues a “no bill,” which means there is no indictment, and criminal proceedings for the case end there.
