FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The attorney representing an investigator who has been charged for working without a license on the alleged Pagan president is requesting an expedited hearing to drop the charges.
L.J. Maxey, 74, former Bridgeport city councilman and retired Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officer, was charged with operating as a private investigator without a license for Attorney Elgine McArdle in her defense of alleged Pagan president Ryan Lane for his role in the 2022 murder of Henry Silver. McArdle was also charged by the prosecutor’s office last week for violating a child’s confidentiality.
An attorney for Maxey is requesting an emergency motion for a hearing to dismiss the charges based on social posts by Marion County Prosecutor Jeffery Freeman.
Prosecutor Jeff Freeman offered his opinion in a social media post on why Maxey failed to meet the legal standard for an exception in the case. Freeman also said, “We really don’t have time to pursue any personal vendettas,” while citing the caseload in the office.
In court filings, Maxey’s attorney claims Freeman is ethically prohibited from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused, and the people of Marion County deserve better from their elected prosecuting attorney.
The request for an emergency hearing presses the request for the emergency hearing by also saying, “The engagement by the senior law enforcement official in the county heightens the urgency of dismissing the charge.”