Martinsburg man to enter guilty pleas in armed robberies
Matthew Umstead
matthewu@herald-mail.com
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Martinsburg man indicted in February in connection with the armed robberies of two businesses in August 2014 has agreed to enter a guilty pleas in the case.
Kenneth A. Wang, 29, of Garden Drive, who currently is serving a federal sentence on unrelated charges, has agreed to plead guilty to single counts of first-degree robbery and fraudulent use of a credit card, and a no-contest plea to a second count of first-degree robbery, according to court records.
Two 10-year prison sentences for the robbery convictions would be served consecutively, and also consecutive to a federal sentence Wang currently is serving in an unrelated drug-distribution case, according to the plea agreement.
The proposed resolution to the case was presented Monday to 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III by Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gregory K. Jones.
A sentence of not less than one or more than 10 years in prison for the credit-card conviction would be served at the same time as the robbery sentences, court records said.
Seven additional counts of fraudulent credit-card use would be dismissed, under the plea agreement.
A hearing was scheduled for June 29.
Wang is accused of taking $112 in cash at gunpoint on Aug. 12, 2014, at Dollar General at 129 Eagle School Road, court records said.
He also allegedly took $2,350 in a similar fashion on Aug. 7, 2014, at Trula B's Cafe at 715 Williamsport Pike, records said.
The credit-card fraud allegations stem from an incident in April 2014, records said.
In the drug-distribution case, Wang was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh in October 2014 to more than three years in prison for distributing crack cocaine after he pleaded guilty in March 2014, records said.