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January 5, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Two Indicted By Federal Grand Jury
on Escape and Firearms Charges

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Two individuals were named in separate Indictments returned on January 4, 2011, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

ANTONIO COTTINGHAM, age 24, was named in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that COTTINGHAM escaped from the custody of the Attorney General from a residence located in Fairmont, West Virginia, on May 28, 2010. COTTINGHAM was confined after being convicted of the distribution of “crack” cocaine. If convicted on the escape charge, COTTINGHAM faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zelda E. Wesley. The case was investigated by the United States Marshal Service.

DEREK JARVIS, age 37, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, was named in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that JARVIS, having been convicted of Aggravated Felonious Assault and Aggravated Robbery, knowingly possessed three firearms on July 22, 2009, in Buckhannon. If convicted, JARVIS faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. This Project Safe Neighborhoods case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zelda E. Wesley. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.