WYOMING COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Leanna Carol Mills, 44, of Bud, WV, pleaded guilty to burglary and grand larceny on March 11, 2024. Mills will be sentenced on April 25, 2024.
On August 2, 2023, Cpl. M.C. Shifflette of the West Virginia State Police responded to a copper theft in Basin, WV. The subsequent criminal investigation revealed that Mills and a co-defendant cut and stole approximately 400 feet of copper that supplied power to a water pump. Then on February 7, 2024, Sgt. Matt Lane of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department responded to a burglary complaint in Herndon, WV. The subsequent criminal investigation revealed that Mills had forced her way into a private residence and demanded money. When the resident refused to comply, Mills physically attacked the occupant, choking them during the assault.
Gregory Bishop, the Wyoming County Prosecutor, stated, “These crimes will not be tolerated in Wyoming County. The physical assault in a private residence is particularly troubling. Our citizens must feel safe and secure within their homes. We will prosecute these crimes to the fullest extent of the law.” Assistant Prosecutor Derek Laxton of Wyoming County served as the lead prosecutor in the case. Cpl. M.C. Shifflette of the WV State Police and Sgt. Matt Lane of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crime.
Bishop wished to thank Assistant Prosecutor Derek Laxton and the entire prosecutor’s staff for their hard and thorough work, along with Cpl. M.C. Shifflette from the WV State Police and Sgt. Matt Lane of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department. “The superb investigations conducted by these lawmen directly resulted in our securing felony convictions in this case,” said Bishop.