Marvin Sexton, 54, of Chesapeake, pleaded guilty to attempted murder during his pretrial in Judge Charles Cooper’s courtroom on Wednesday morning. Sexton was charged with attacking Missy Howard with a shovel in November of last year, leaving Howard beaten, bloody and near death. Sexton was originally scheduled to go to trial on April 5, but with his guilty plea he will return in two weeks, on March 29, for sentencing.

In other action in Cooper’s court on Wednesday William K. Elkins, Sr., 56, of Chesapeake, had his case continued in the aggravated murder of Ricky Crager. Elkins had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a negotiated plea last April, after he shot Crager in an argument at his home in May 2015, but withdrew that plea. He told Cooper in a written statement that he did not feel adequately represented by his appointed counsel.

Robert A Duty, 52, of South Point, also had his case continued. Duty is accused of one count of trafficking in cocaine and three counts of trafficking in heroin.

Samuel J. Patrick, 20, of Proctorville, admitted to his CCS violation and was ordered into a program at Mended Reeds.

Corey Powell, 21, of Proctorville, had his case continued, bond set at $50,000 cash surety, and ordered to wear a GPS monitor. Powell is accused of felony 1 rape and felony 4 unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, as well as eight counts of gross sexual imposition for his coercion of a 14-year-old “by force or threat of force.”

Darrel G Weaver, 61, or Portsmouth, pleaded not guilty to charges of possession and trafficking in drugs, and had his bond set at $75,000 cash surety.

Rodney G. White, 38, of Proctorville, had his robbery case continued. Virginia White, 42, of South Point, also had her case continued on charges of trafficking. Timothy White, 28, of Cattletsburg, Kentucky, pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and tampering with evidence, and had his bond set at $20,000 cash or surety, and $20,000 own recognizances.

Robert L. Williams, III, 58, of Ironton, pleaded guilty to charges of complicity to trafficking in the Kim Montgomery case. Williams comes back for sentencing on March 29.

In Judge Andrew Ballard’s courtroom on Tuesday Loretta Akers, 56, of Chesapeake, pleaded guilty to her role in the Sky Lake gambling enterprise. Akers was sentenced to 180 days in jail, suspended, plus one year of community control sanctions. The terms of Akers plea deal stipulate that she must provide testimony in the Tracy Ellis and Sky Lake cases.

Ellis, 55, of Chesapeake, is charged with a total of 24 counts. These include three counts of gambling, 12 counts of money laundering, four counts of possessing criminal tools, three counts of operating a gambling house, and two counts of conducting a criminal enterprise.

On Wednesday in Ballard’s courtroom, Jeremy Penwell, 35, of Pedro, was ordered to pay the remainder of the funds he owes in restitution, totaling $576.21, and to come back for sentencing following full repayment of restitution.

Terry Gibson, 26, of Flatwoods, admitted to his CCS violation, for failure to report and complete his community service. Ballard ordered Gibson to complete the remainder of his community service, totaling 270 hours, and pay $500 in fines. Gibson will remain under GPS monitoring for 120 days, and be financially responsible for the cost of the monitoring, however he may ask for early release from GPS monitoring if he returns to the court to ask for removal after completing community service and paying back his fine.

Derek M. Goorey, 27 of Ironton, pleaded no contest to a felony 4 charge of domestic violence. Goorey, who has two previous domestic violence charges on his record, was sentenced to four years of community control sanction with intensive supervised probation, 200 hours of community service, and ordered to complete a program at STAR.

Wendy Jenkins, 37, of Ironton, was arraigned in a felony 5 theft case, accused of stealing $5,563 from McDonald’s restaurant. Jenkins was released on a $10,000 own recognizances bond, and was scheduled for pretrial on March 29.

Brittani McClaskey, 30, of South Point, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and was sentenced to treatment-in-lieu of prosecution.

Tisha Ramey, 29, of Huntington, pleaded not guilty to four felony 5 counts against her. Ramey is charged with two counts of felony 5 forgery and two counts of felony 5 receiving stolen checks.

Ramey will return for pretrial on March 29.

Christopher Strait, 44, of Ironton, pleaded not guilty to possession of heroin. Strait had his bond set for $10,000 own recognizances, and was scheduled to return to court on March 29.

Ernest L. Alexander, III, 32, of Dunbar, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to a felony 5 possession of methamphetamine. Alexander was sentenced to four years CCS with ISP, 200 hours of community service, and ordered to complete a program at STAR.

Justin L. Wolfe, 28, of Ashland, admitted to his CCS violations, including failure to report and failure to follow the recommendations and seek or complete treatment, and was sentenced to 300 days in prison.

Wolfe, who had been ordered to complete treatment in a Franklin County case prior to being placed on CCS in Lawrence County, was still under order to complete the program as sentenced by the Franklin County court, but had not.

Wolfe asked the judge if it was possible to be ordered to a treatment facility rather than prison, but Ballard said that under the terms of the negotiated plea, Wolfe would have to serve the time recommended by the state. He did recommend that Wolfe voluntarily seek treatment once his time is served.

“Community Control is a valuable asset,” Ballard told Wolfe and the court, noting that it can help people get their life back on track rather than going to jail, when they take it seriously.

“My problem with letting people violate it,” Ballard continued, “is they won’t take it seriously.”

Ballard said that after serving some portion of his time, Wolfe could ask to complete his sentence by being released to STAR Community Justice Center.