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Thread: Michael Owle and Ruben Laurel Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison in 2012 WV Murder of Anthony Dallas

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    Michael Owle and Ruben Laurel Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison in 2012 WV Murder of Anthony Dallas

    U.S. Attorney's office in northern WV district seeking death penalty for suspects in 2012 murder at USP Hazelton

    By WDTV News

    CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WDTV) -- The United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of West Virginia is seeking the death penalty for two federal inmates accused of murdering another inmate at USP Hazelton.

    29-year-old Michael Owle of Cherokee, North Carolina and 39-year-old Ruben Laurel, of San Antonio, Texas have each been charged with First Degree Murder and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. The two allegedly repeatedly stabbed two inmates at the federal prison in August of 2012, resulting in the death of 31-year-old Anthony Dallas.

    On Wednesday, The United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of West Virginia filed an intent to seek the death penalty for Owle and Laurel.

    "The United States Government will seek the death penalty for each defendant for the murder count, in accordance with the decision and directive by Attorney General Jeff Sessions," officials with the office stated in a press release.

    The death penalty sentences would be for the First Degree Murder charges, with each defendant also facing a sentencing of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the assault charges.

    "The notice to seek the death penalty includes intent factors that allege Owle and Laurel acted with intent against their victim, and that their intentional acts of violence resulted in the victim’s death. The notice sets forth statutory aggravating factors including that Owle and Laurel committed the crime after substantial planning and premeditation to cause death, and committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner.

    Both men have previously been convicted of two or more felonies," officials stated.

    The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen L. Vogrin and Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States government.

    http://www.wdtv.com/content/news/US-...481542011.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Judge Keeley sets Wednesday hearing in federal Hazelton death penalty case

    By Matt Harvey
    WV News

    CLARKSBURG — The lawyers for two inmates facing prosecution in a 2012 U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton homicide want the court to rule out the death penalty, citing speedy trial rights and insufficient time to prepare.

    Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley has scheduled a hearing Thursday afternoon on the motion.

    There’s no way the defense could be ready for trial within three months of the government signaling a death penalty prosecution, the motion argues. Defendants Michael A. Owle, 29, of Cherokee, North Carolina, and Ruben Laurel, 39, of San Antonio, are scheduled for trial beginning Aug. 20, by order of a federal magistrate judge.

    Owle and Laurel were indicted May 1, and the government gave notice of its intent to seek the death penalty May 2. The initial scheduling order set a discovery deadline June 21, ordered motions filed by July 5, responses by July 12, set a motion hearing July 19, and established the late August trial date.

    None of those dates were reasonable, according to the defense motion. The filing cited a study from the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project contending the average time between filing of a notice of intent to seek the death penalty and the trial date is about 20.4 months.

    The defense lawyers, however, also insist their clients are due a speedy trial Aug. 20. The motion references, among other things, the amount of time the defendants had the possibility of a death penalty prosecution hanging over their heads.

    The answer, the defense lawyers argue, is for Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley to bar the death penalty from the trial, and allow it to go forward as a standard criminal trial.

    The government agrees a continuance is in order due to the complexity of the case.

    The government’s lawyers contend, however, that they filed the death penalty notice as soon as possible, a day after the indictment, and that it isn’t their fault that the trial date was set Aug. 20.

    Because of that, they assert the court would be in error to bar a death penalty prosecution of Owle and Laurel.

    The defense motion points out that the homicide occurred almost six years prior to U.S. Attorney Bill Powell’s office filing the death notice after being directed to do so by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    The defense attorneys admit they’re “privy to the details of the decision-making information of the Department of Justice.”

    Still, “based upon the reception of the defense arguments against seeking death presented during both a meeting with the local U.S. Attorney’s office and before the Capital Case Committee it is believed that the Attorney General’s decision to seek death in this matter was not only a surprise to the defense but also to the U.S. Attorney’s office,” the defense motion asserts.

    Owle and Laurel are accused in the Aug. 29, 2012, homicide of fellow Hazelton inmate Anthony Morris Dallas.

    Laurel and Owle are charged with one count each of first-degree murder and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Another inmate also was stabbed.

    Dallas, who was 31 at the time of his death, was serving a total sentence of 55 years imposed in 2004 by Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker.

    Dallas’s crimes: The second-degree murder Feb. 21, 2003, of Alfred Jake on the Navajo Reservation in McKinley County, New Mexico, as well as using, carrying and possessing a firearm (a Remington .243) in connection with that crime.

    Laurel has been serving a lengthy sentence (294 months) for being part of a cocaine distribution conspiracy in Tennessee involving more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Laurel also has gotten in trouble behind bars for committing assault with serious injury, which added more time to his sentence; possessing weapons; using drugs or alcohol; and destroying property, according to court records.

    Owle’s crimes include robbery by force or violence and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, May 26, 2008, on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. Owle also has gotten into trouble behind bars previously for assaulting a corrections officer and another inmate, and is serving a lengthy sentence.

    The notice to seek the death penalty includes factors that allege Owle and Laurel acted with intent against their victim and that their intentional acts of violence resulted in the victim’s death.

    The notice alleges Owle and Laurel committed the crime after substantial planning and premeditation to cause death, and committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner.

    Both men have previously been convicted of two or more felonies.

    Owle is represented by attorneys Jay McCamic of McCamic, Sacco & McCoid PLLC in Wheeling, John Tinney Jr. of Charleston law firm Hendrickson & Long, and Las Vegas federal public defenders Brenda Weksler and Ryan Norwood.

    Laurel is represented by attorneys Gary Collias of Charleston and Gary Proctor of Baltimore.

    The government’s lawyers are assistant U.S. attorneys Stephen Vogrin and Robert H. McWilliams Jr., and Department of Justice Capital Case Section attorney Robert J. Feitel, from Washington.

    Laurel is a prisoner at the high-security federal penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida. Laurel’s current release date is July 22, 2027.

    Owle, who has pleaded innocent and is presumed innocent unless convicted, has been moved from the administrative maximum-security penitentiary Florence Admax in Florence, Colorado, to high-security U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton. He has a release date of Jan. 15, 2033.

    https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/j...750e2727c.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Judge Keeley sets trial in spring 2020 for federal death penalty case

    By Matt Harvey
    WV News

    CLARKSBURG — Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley has set a spring 2020 trial in a death penalty case involving two U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton prisoners.

    The judge first ruled Wednesday that the case of defendants Michael A. Owle, 29, of Cherokee, N.C., and Ruben Laurel, 39, of San Antonio, Texas, qualified as a complex one. That allowed her to schedule the matter on a much more expanded timeline under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974.

    Jury selection will begin March 16, 2020, with time set aside between April 6-30, 2020, for the trial, Keeley ruled. The lawyers believe it could take up to 10 days to seat a jury, a week or more for the trial on innocence or guilt and then possibly twice that long for a separate trial — if necessary — on whether the death penalty should be imposed.

    Because the case is based out of the federal courthouse in Clarksburg, the jury pool will be selected from individuals living in Harrison, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Pleasants, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Ritchie and Taylor counties.

    Although Keeley has presided over such prosecutions before, none have yet to reach trial with the death penalty still on the table.

    Owle and Laurel were indicted May 1 on charges of aiding and abetting first-degree murder and of assault with a dangerous weapon.

    They’re accused in the alleged Aug. 29, 2012, stabbing death of fellow Hazelton inmate Anthony Morris Dallas, 31, as well as the stabbing of another inmate.

    The attorneys for Laurel and Owle had asked Keeley to nix the death penalty from the case and allow it to go forward from there with the original Aug. 20 trial date set by U.S. Magistrate Michael John Aloi. Their clients weren’t giving up their right to a speedy trial next month, the defense attorneys contended, but at the same time, they would need close to two years to be ready for a death penalty prosecution.

    Keeley made short shrift of that Catch-22 request.

    The government gave notice of intent to seek the death penalty May 2, a day after the indictment, and that was as soon as could have been expected, Keeley said. Additionally, the Aug. 20 trial date wasn’t even set at that point, she noted.

    The defense motion had even hinted that it was unlikely to succeed. But in a case with stakes this high, the attorneys for the accused can’t afford to be lax on any points.

    Keeley also gave the attorneys for the government and defense until Aug. 13 to propose a schedule for important deadlines and court hearings leading up to the trial.

    There’s also the possibility that the case could be split into two trials, but the defense attorneys indicated they’re not yet ready to make that decision.

    Dallas, who was 31 at the time of his death, was serving a total sentence of 55 years imposed in 2004 by Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker.

    Dallas’ crimes: The second-degree murder Feb. 21, 2003, of Alfred Jake on the Navajo Reservation in McKinley County, New Mexico, as well as using, carrying and possessing a firearm (a Remington .243) in connection with that crime.

    Laurel has been serving a lengthy sentence (294 months) for being part of a cocaine distribution conspiracy in Tennessee involving more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Laurel also has gotten in trouble behind bars for committing assault with serious injury, which added more time to his sentence; possessing weapons; using drugs or alcohol; and destroying property, according to court records.

    Owle’s crimes include robbery by force or violence and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, May 26, 2008, on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. Owle also has gotten into trouble behind bars previously for assaulting a corrections officer and another inmate and is serving a lengthy sentence.

    The notice to seek the death penalty includes factors that allege Owle and Laurel acted with intent against their victim and that their intentional acts of violence resulted in the victim’s death.

    The notice alleges Owle and Laurel committed the crime after substantial planning and premeditation to cause death, and committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner.

    Both men have previously been convicted of two or more felonies.

    Owle is represented by attorneys Jay McCamic of McCamic, Sacco & McCoid PLLC in Wheeling, John Tinney Jr. of Charleston law firm Hendrickson & Long and Las Vegas federal public defenders Brenda Weksler and Ryan Norwood.

    Laurel is represented by attorneys Gary Collias of Charleston and Gary Proctor of Baltimore.

    The government’s lawyers are assistant U.S. attorneys Stephen Vogrin and Robert H. McWilliams Jr., and Department of Justice Capital Case Section attorney Robert J. Feitel, from Washington.

    Laurel is a prisoner at the high-security federal penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida. Laurel’s current release date is July 22, 2027.

    Owle, who has pleaded innocent and is presumed innocent unless convicted, has been moved from the administrative maximum-security penitentiary Florence Admax in Florence, Colorado, to high-security U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton. He has a release date of Jan. 15, 2033.

    https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/j...7c8ec1924.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    U.S. District Judge Judge Keeley: Death penalty jurors to fill out questionnaires at home

    By Charles Young
    WV News

    CLARKSBURG — Potential jurors in an death penalty case involving two U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton prisoners set for spring 2020 will fill out jury questionnaires at home, Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley ruled Tuesday.

    During a status conference in the case of defendants Michael A. Owle, 29, of Cherokee, North Carolina, and Ruben Laurel, 39, of San Antonio, Texas, Keeley said because the federal courthouse in Clarksburg is too small to accommodate the 300 person jury pool needed for the trial the questionnaires will be mailed to selected individuals in Harrison, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Pleasants, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Ritchie and Taylor counties.

    The questionnaire process is expected to take around 15 days to complete, Keeley said.

    Keeley has previous ruled jury selection will begin March 16, 2020, with time set aside between April 6-30, 2020 for the trial. The lawyers believe it could take up to 10 days to seat a jury, a week or more for the trial and then possibly twice that long for a separate trial — if necessary — on whether the death penalty should be imposed.

    Although Keeley has presided over such prosecutions before, none have yet to reach trial with the death penalty still on the table.

    Owle and Laurel were indicted May 1 on charges of aiding and abetting first-degree murder and of assault with a dangerous weapon.

    They’re accused in the alleged Aug. 29, 2012, stabbing death of fellow Hazelton inmate Anthony Morris Dallas, 31, as well as the stabbing of another inmate.

    Dallas, who was 31 at the time of his death, was serving a total sentence of 55 years imposed in 2004 by Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker.

    Dallas’ crimes: The second-degree murder Feb. 21, 2003, of Alfred Jake on the Navajo Reservation in McKinley County, New Mexico, as well as using, carrying and possessing a firearm (a Remington .243) in connection with that crime.

    Laurel has been serving a lengthy sentence (294 months) for being part of a cocaine distribution conspiracy in Tennessee involving more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Laurel also has gotten in trouble behind bars for committing assault with serious injury, which added more time to his sentence; possessing weapons; using drugs or alcohol; and destroying property, according to court records.

    Owle’s crimes include robbery by force or violence and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, May 26, 2008, on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. Owle also has gotten into trouble behind bars previously for assaulting a corrections officer and another inmate and is serving a lengthy sentence.

    https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/u...eb425b09a.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Edited:

    Judge Kleeh sets revamped 2020 jury and trial schedule for fed inmates in NCWV death penalty case

    By Matt Harvey
    WV News

    CLARKSBURG — U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh has set a revamped trial schedule for two inmates facing death penalty prosecution for a 2012 slaying at U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton.

    Previously, Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley had the case involving Michael A. Owle, 30, of Cherokee, North Carolina, and Ruben Laurel, 40, of San Antonio. She had set jury selection next March 16, with time set aside between April 6-30, 2020, for the trial. The lawyers had advised the court at that time that it could take up to 10 days to seat a jury, a week or more for the trial and possibly twice that long for a separate trial, if necessary, on whether the death penalty should be imposed.

    Kleeh recently granted a joint motion to issue a fourth amended scheduling order in the case that, among other deadlines, sets: A final pretrial conference Aug. 20, 2020; jury selection to begin Aug. 31, 2020, and to last about five days in Clarksburg; the jury trial itself to begin Sept. 21, 2020, and to last about seven days, also in Clarksburg; and a jury trial for the penalty phase, if necessary, to begin Oct. 13 and to last about five days, also in Clarksburg.

    Owle and Laurel were indicted last May 1 on charges of aiding and abetting first-degree murder and of assault with a dangerous weapon.

    They’re accused in the alleged Aug. 29, 2012, stabbing death of fellow Hazelton inmate Anthony Morris Dallas, 31, as well as the stabbing of another inmate.

    https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/j...4f794975b.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Plea deal in the works in 2012 FCI Hazelton murder

    By WAJR News

    CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – Two former FCI Hazelton inmates accused in the 2012 murder of an inmate are working through details of a plea deal with federal officials.

    Ruben Laurel, 41, and Michael Owle, 31, are accused of stabbing another inmate to death, Anthony Morris Dallas, 31, in August of 2012. Another inmate was assaulted during the attack.

    U.S. Attorney Bill Powell indicted the pair in May of 2018 for aiding and abetting first degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon.

    Laurel has agreed to a plea deal, but it contingent on Attorney General William Barr eliminating the possibility of the death penalty. Owle’s has not been able to meet with his legal team yet to review the deal.

    Laurel is serving 294 months for being part of a cocaine distribution conspiracy in Tennessee. He has also been charged with other violent drug related offenses while behind bars. He was scheduled for release in June of 2027 before the additional charges, including the murder case.

    Owle was convicted for robbery by force or violence while carrying and discharging a weapon in May of 2008. Owle has also faced charges for assaulting a correctional officer and another inmate. Owle’s original release date was September of 2032.

    Laurel is now serving time at U.S. Penitentiary Tucson. Owle is now being held at the highest-security prison in the nation, U.S. Penitentiary Florence.

    https://wajr.com/plea-deal-in-the-wo...zelton-murder/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    2nd fed inmate pleads guilty in 2012 Hazelton slaying, gets 25 more years

    Northern West Virginia Chief Judge Thomas Kleeh presides

    By Matt Harvey
    WV News

    CLARKSBURG, W. Va. - Another federal inmate has been sentenced to 25 more years behind bars for the second-degree murder of another prisoner in 2012 at U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton.

    Northern West Virginia Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh took a plea Monday from Michael Owle, 33, and sentenced Owle for aiding and abetting second degree-murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

    Last week co-defendant Rueben Laurel, 43, received the same sentence.

    Laurel And Owle repeatedly stabbed Dallas Aug. 29, 2012, the office of U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld, and the FBI, have alleged.

    Anthony M. Dallas was stabbed nearly 50 times, with wounds in the heart, lungs and liver. Another inmate was injured during the attack and died.

    Owle is in Colorado at U.S. Penitentiary Florence ADMAX, the highest security prison in the country, serving a term that is to be complete in 2032. He will have to serve at least 21 or 22 more years on top of that even if he receives maximum good-behavior credit, meaning he won't get out until he's in his mid-50's.

    Laurel, now at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute (Indiana) had been scheduled for release in 2028, at age 49. Now, he will serve into his 70's before his release.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Vogrin prosecuted the case.

    https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/2n...ary%20Hazelton.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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