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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
3 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.67 |
Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2014 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
West Virginia |
County or Region of Crime: |
Mingo |
City of Crime: |
Williamson |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"George White was wrongly convicted of a drug charge in 2013 in Williamson, West Virginia. After his conviction evidence was discovered during a corruption investigation of Mingo County, West Virginia officials that Mingo County sheriff Eugene Crum framed White for the drug charge because he didn't want to pay White $3,000 for campaign materials. Crum arranged for a police informant to testify that he purchased three oxycodone tablets from White -- "even though no such transaction transpired." After his arrest White began talking with FBI agents investigating Mingo County corruption. Mingo County Commissioner David Baisden and Mingo prosecuting attorney Michael Sparks got word to White that if he pled guilty to the drug charges he would be given a light sentence. White agreed and pled guilty. Shortly after that Sparks, Baisden and the judge involved, Mingo Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury were all charged with various federal crimes. White's conviction was vacated in December 2013 and he was released after having spent 240 days in custody. The charges were dismissed on February 24, 2014. A number of Mingo County official were convicted of federal corruption related charges, including Thornsbury and Sparks. Crum had been killed in 2013 in an unrelated shooting. White filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Mingo County and the officials involved in his prosecution. In February 2014 the lawsuit was settled for $120,000 with Mingo County, Baisden, the city of Williamson and former Williamson police chief David Rockel. Thorsbury and Sparks agreed to an undisclosed settlement of the lawsuit that they paid out of their pockets, because Mingo County's insurance company refused to accept liability for their actions because of their federal convictions." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by a confidential police informant at the behest of the Mingo County sheriff. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"White's conviction was vacated in December 2013 and he was released after having spent 240 days in custody. The charges were dismissed on Febuary 24, 2014." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$120,000 (Mingo County, Feb. 2016)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Mingo corruption: Charges dismissed in George White case, By Jeff Jenkins (Staff writer), West Virginia Metro News (Charleston, WV), February 24, 2014" |
Information Location 1: |
http://wvmetronews.com/2014/02/24/mingo-corruption-charges-dismissed-in-george-white-case/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Ex-Mingo judge gets 50 months in prison, By Kate White (Staff writer), The Gazette (Charleston, WV), June 9, 2014" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140609/GZ01/140609260 |
Information Source 3: |
"George White settles lawsuit with Mingo County officials , By Kate White (Staff writer), The Gazette (Charleston, WV), February 24, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/cops_and_courts/george-white-settles-lawsuit-with-mingo-county-officials/article_66b0c5ac-2cf1-5e6b-ae5d-dcaf732dfb41.html |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org