Oceana man convicted for theft of over 240 ft. of electric cable

PINEVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Wyoming County man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one felony count of Receiving or Transferring Stolen Goods, as well as one felony count of Conspiracy to Commit a Felony.

According to Wyoming County Prosecutor, Greg Bishop, on May 8, 2023, Corporal Tyler Sizemore of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of a theft incident in the Marianna area.

A subsequent investigation conducted with regard to these reports led to the determination that the subject, identified as Jeffrey Scott Maynard, 61 years old of Oceana, WV – and an unnamed co-defendant had illegally taken approximately 240.5 feet of electric cable from Alpha Natural Resources. The cable was reportedly valued at approximately $2,525.25.

Maynard is expected to be sentenced for the aforementioned crimes on May 13, 2024.

“Cable theft costs the mining industry not only in terms of lost cable but also in terms of repairing and/or replacing the stolen sections and lost production,” said Bishop. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute these crimes, the costs of which are passed on to the end user and ultimately to the consumer.”

Assistant Prosecutor Derek Laxton acted as lead prosecutor in the case.

Bishop issued his thanks to Laxton for his efforts, along with the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department.

“Good investigations result in good convictions,” Bishop said.