WELLSBURG — A Richmond man faces up to 15 years in prison while a Short Creek man was sentenced to one to five years in separate cases heard Monday in Brooke County Circuit Court.

Cody Lee Dennis, 36, of Richmond, was ordered to serve one to 15 years for burglary, up to five years for prohibited possession of a firearm and up to a year for battery on an officer.

The sentence was ordered by 1st Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo after Dennis’ court-appointed attorney, Thomas Kroger, submitted a plea agreement on Dennis’ behalf.

Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney Allison Cowden said the charges stem from three separate incidents.

During the first, on April 16, 2024, Dennis struck a man known to him outside his Follansbee home and when the man fled inside, Dennis threatened him with a knife before leaving with tools at the home, said Cowden.

The prosecutor said on Sept. 7, when Brooke County sheriff’s deputies were attempting to arrest Dennis, he tried to kick them and kissed one on the cheek, which she said meets the condition of “physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature” for the charge of battery on an officer.

The charge of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon stems from police’s discovery that Dennis was in possession of a 9mm pistol when they stopped him in his vehicle on Oct. 15.

Charges of brandishing a deadly weapon, battery and assault were dismissed through the plea agreement.

Frank Arthur Stewart, 55, of Short Creek, was sentenced to one to five years and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine after pleading guilty to fleeing with reckless indifference to the safety of others.

Cowden said on Jan. 19, 2024, Brooke County sheriff’s deputies were responding to a 911 call from a woman in the Short Creek area who said men in a vehicle were attempting to run into her.

She said the deputies observed Stewart in that area driving at a high rate of speed and pursued him to 49 Hill Road, where he crashed into a ditch.

Cowden told the court that after being transported to Weirton Medical Center, the 911 caller “walked out of the hospital and we’ve not heard from her since.”