Man admits role in accumulating over 1,000 tires in Nitro without permit
The trial of a man accused of illegally accumulating more than 1,000 tires that burned in a massive fire in May 2006 ended abruptly in Kanawha Circuit Court Wednesday when a plea deal was reached.
The trial of a man accused of illegally accumulating more than 1,000 tires that burned in a massive fire in May 2006 ended abruptly in Kanawha Circuit Court Wednesday when a plea deal was reached.
Ricky Handley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a felony, which is a felony itself. He admitted that he conspired with U.S. Tire Recovery executives Brian Holdren and Dennis Henderson in November 2005 to collect more than 1,000 tires without a permit in a Nitro warehouse.
Although prosecutors described Handley as a "managing partner" of the business, which hoped to recycle waste tires, defense attorney Duane Rosenlieb maintained that Handley was just the local operations manager for out-of-state owners.
A firefighter sprays water onto the warehouse fire in Nitro in May 2006, where authorities estimated that 40,000 tires burned for almost 24 hours. Ricky Handley admitted Wednesday that he conspired with others to accumulate more than 1,000 tires at the warehouse without a permit.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors recommended probation for Handley, who faces one to five years in prison when sentenced by Judge Tod Kaufman in September.
Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Tera Salango said the state also agreed not to pursue an action against Handley as a prior felon, which would increase his potential sentence to two to five years.
Court records indicate that Handley pleaded guilty in federal court in Kentucky in February 2006 - three months before the warehouse fire - to dumping leachate, or fluid that seeps out of a landfill, into a sewer drain at the Cooksey Brothers Tire and Maintenance Facility in Ashland, Ky., in January 2005.
At the time, Handley worked as the manager for the Cooksey Brothers Tire Center.
Matthew J. Warnock, who represented Handley in the federal case, argued that not much damage was done because the leachate was not much different than common sewage.
"[N]o more than 50 gallons of discharge were actually pumped into the sewer system," Warnock wrote in a pre-sentence memorandum. "This incident associated with [Handley] was a one-time event that literally lasted several seconds before the FBI intervened."
On May 31, 2006, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sentenced Handley to one year of probation, which included six months of home confinement.
By that time, Handley had moved to South Carolina, where he was again working for Holdren, Rosenlieb said Wednesday.
The trial of a man accused of illegally accumulating more than 1,000 tires that burned in a massive fire in May 2006 ended abruptly in Kanawha Circuit Court Wednesday when a plea deal was reached.
Ricky Handley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a felony, which is a felony itself. He admitted that he conspired with U.S. Tire Recovery executives Brian Holdren and Dennis Henderson in November 2005 to collect more than 1,000 tires without a permit in a Nitro warehouse.
Although prosecutors described Handley as a "managing partner" of the business, which hoped to recycle waste tires, defense attorney Duane Rosenlieb maintained that Handley was just the local operations manager for out-of-state owners.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors recommended probation for Handley, who faces one to five years in prison when sentenced by Judge Tod Kaufman in September.
Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Tera Salango said the state also agreed not to pursue an action against Handley as a prior felon, which would increase his potential sentence to two to five years.
Court records indicate that Handley pleaded guilty in federal court in Kentucky in February 2006 - three months before the warehouse fire - to dumping leachate, or fluid that seeps out of a landfill, into a sewer drain at the Cooksey Brothers Tire and Maintenance Facility in Ashland, Ky., in January 2005.
At the time, Handley worked as the manager for the Cooksey Brothers Tire Center.
Matthew J. Warnock, who represented Handley in the federal case, argued that not much damage was done because the leachate was not much different than common sewage.
"[N]o more than 50 gallons of discharge were actually pumped into the sewer system," Warnock wrote in a pre-sentence memorandum. "This incident associated with [Handley] was a one-time event that literally lasted several seconds before the FBI intervened."
On May 31, 2006, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sentenced Handley to one year of probation, which included six months of home confinement.
By that time, Handley had moved to South Carolina, where he was again working for Holdren, Rosenlieb said Wednesday.
Handley's plea agreement does not require him to testify against Holdren or Henderson, Rosenlieb noted.
Rosenlieb maintained that the case against Handley was being conflated with the fire, which was determined to be arson.
"That arson has nothing to do with my client," he said.
During the trial, Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Jennifer Meadows said Handley had violated a cease-and-desist order issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection in November 2005 by continuing to accept tires. He also never applied for a permit, which is required by the Solid Waste Management Act, she said.
Rosenlieb maintained that other representatives of U.S. Tire Recovery were actively trying to comply with state regulations. Handley was not responsible for that part of the business, he said.
U.S. Tire Recovery bought used tires in bulk and separated out the used tires that could be resold, Meadows said. The unusable waste tires were stacked in the warehouse, she said.
Authorities estimated that more than 40,000 tires burned in U.S. Tire Recovery's portion of the warehouse; the inferno took millions of gallons of water to put out. The state fire marshal later determined that the fire was set. No one has been arrested for setting the fire.
Kaufman increased Handley's bond to $50,000 property surety, and ordered Handley, who now lives in Alabama, to stay in touch with the Kanawha County Adult Probation Department via weekly phone calls.
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