PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The judge presiding over the Amber Spradlin murder trial has granted a request by prosecutors to delay the trial. Special Judge Eddy Coleman issued an order Friday evening canceling the Dec. 1 trial date and ordering attorneys to appear that day for a pretrial conference instead. In his order, Coleman noted that the untested DNA evidence was too important to ignore. He cited precedent for his decision in the case in Manning vs. Commonwealth of Kentucky, in which the Kentucky Supreme Court granted a fourth delay in a complicity to murder and robbery case, even though that […]

The post Judge grants delay in Amber Spradlin murder trial appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County man arrested last week on 20 counts of possessing child pornography has now seen his case bumped up to federal court. Charles Michael Hopkins, 34, of Virgie, was arrested last week after Kentucky State Police received a tip that he had been uploading and downloading child porn images online. That case has now been moved to federal court. Documents in the federal case provide a more complete picture of the allegations. According to an affidavit by the FBI agent investigating the case, KSP received the first report about Hopkins from the National Center for […]

The post Pike man sees child porn case moved to federal court appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Andy Beshear invites the public to pay their respects to former Kentucky Gov. Martha Layne Collins, who will lie in state in the Old State Capitol on Sunday, Nov. 9, beginning at noon. Collins’ family will host a public visitation in the Old State Capitol from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. There will be a memorial service at 4:30 p.m., which will air live on Kentucky Educational Television and at ket.org/live. Collins was the 56th Governor of the commonwealth and its only woman governor to date, serving from 1983 to 1987. She also served as lieutenant governor from […]

The post Arrangements announced for Gov. Collins appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

ABINGDON, Va. — A Wise County man has pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to a meth trafficking conspiracy. Russell Dewayne Peaks, 49, of Pound, was arrested in August and charged with three counts of distributing meth and one count of distributing fentanyl. Under the terms of a plea agreement, Peaks pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to distribute meth, in exchange for the remaining charges being dropped. Authorities say they sent an undercover informant to his home on three occasions in March and April to buy nearly an ounce of meth each time. On one of the […]

The post Pound man pleads guilty to federal drug charge appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A superseding federal indictment has expanded the case against Jeremy Bryson — son of former Paintsville doctor Don Bryson — adding new charges that shed more light on what prosecutors call a long-running prescription drug scheme in Johnson County. The new indictment accuses Jeremy Bryson of six counts of conspiring to illegally distribute hydrocodone and other controlled substances through his clinic, Appalachian Family Medicine, in Paintsville. It also alleges he used another doctor’s DEA registration number to issue prescriptions and later used proceeds from the operation to purchase a 2020 Dodge Ram truck for more than $67,000. […]

The post Superseding indictment adds drug conspiracy charges against Paintsville clinic owner appeared first on Mountain Top Media.