MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Two men received life sentences in Berkeley County court under what is commonly known as the “Three Strikes Law,” which creates lengthy jail times for repeat serious offenders.
The Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells The Panhandle News Network the sentences were handed down Wednesday in two separate cases.
Eastern Panhandle Circuit Court Judge Michael Lorensen sentenced Kenneth L. Rickard (AKA Kenneth Butts), age 62, of Martinsburg, to life in prison following a December 2024 conviction by a Berkeley County jury for Second-Degree Sexual Assault and Burglary. The charges stemmed from a 1998 home invasion and sexual assault of a young woman, a crime that remained unsolved for over two decades. Rickard had no known connection to the victim and the incident appeared to be random, contributing to the original investigation going cold.
In addition to the life sentence for the Burglary conviction, Rickard was also sentenced to a term of 10 to 25 years in the state penitentiary for Second-Degree Sexual Assault, to be served consecutively to the life sentence.
On the same day, Lorensen sentenced Lateef J. McGann, age 34, of Martinsburg to life in prison. McGann was convicted in February 2022 by a Berkeley County jury of Fleeing from an Officer with Reckless Indifference and Fleeing on Foot.
Following the conviction, the State sought a life sentence under the Recidivist statute based upon McGann’s extensive criminal history, which includes 10 prior misdemeanor convictions and seven felony convictions.
McGann’s case had gone to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals earlier this year when Judge Bridget Cohee had originally sought to exempt McGann from the “three strikes” rule, saying his case was unfairly being singled out.
In explaining the ruling, Justice Charles Trump IV wrote, “Because the circuit court’s ruling provides no support that the State’s pursuit of a recidivist sentence against Mr. McGann violated his equal protection rights, we conclude the circuit court erred in refusing to impose a recidivist life sentence,” according to reporting in WV News.