The first of three alleged victims in a Texas man’s sex crimes case testified Wednesday in Riley County District Court. A man born in 2002 took the witness stand and told the jury about two incidents in the early morning hours of April 16, 2022, when he said Abel Gutierrez Jr., 35, touched him sexually without his consent. The Mercury does not identify victims of sexual crimes. The man, a soldier at Fort Riley at the time, said he and some other soldiers attended a party at a house on College Heights Road owned by Gutierrez and his brother. The…
Author: Rose Gruenbacher
A Laredo, Texas, man’s trial in Riley County District Court began Tuesday with jury selection in a case charging him with sex crimes against three people. Police arrested Abel Gutierrez Jr., 35, last January after extradition from Laredo for a warrant issued by Riley County in 2023. He is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of sexual battery. The warrant and arrest are connected to events in July 2022. A complaint filed with the court said Gutierrez touched three people born in 2003, 2002 and 1988 without their consent. To view the full article visit…
A Topeka man was convicted of a slew of charges including attempted 2nd degree murder after he entered a plea agreement with county prosecutors on Monday in Riley County District Court. Dontreveon Stephon Temple-McGlory, 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted 2nd degree murder against Sierre Serr and Clayson Joyce, criminal discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle, three counts of criminal damage to property and two counts of contributing to a child’s misconduct by encouraging them to commit a felony. Temple-McGlory’s convictions stem from events on Nov. 30, 2024. Assistant Riley County attorney Trinity Muth provided the…
A former Riley County Jail corrections officer made her first appearance Friday in Riley County District Court for a case charging her with trafficking contraband into a correctional facility. Ashley Britt, 24, of Manhattan is charged with eight counts of trafficking contraband in the Riley County Jail between Sep. 20 and Oct. 1 last year. A document filed with the court lists the contraband items as food, nicotine, headphones, hair ties, a comb and condiments. Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Britt for the alleged offenses on April 10 and booked her into the Geary County jail before releasing her…
A judge ordered Joseph Marlow on Tuesday to serve a lifetime sentence in the Kansas Department of Corrections for child sex crimes against a girl he knew. A jury in February convicted Marlow, 26, of Manhattan of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14 years old following his trial in Riley County District Court. The victim was a girl Marlow knew, who was five years old at the time of the crime. Last March he was in the same bed as the girl when he touched her buttocks underneath her clothing. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
A former Manhattan CBD store owner is facing federal drug distribution charges. Law enforcement officers arrested Donald Ince, 47, on a U.S. Marshals Service warrant last July for charges in Wake County, North Carolina. Ince is the former owner of American Shaman in Manhattan. Online records for North Carolina’s federal court system did not give details of the alleged offenses. The Mercury contacted Ince’s attorney to determine his charges. He is charged with at least two counts: one of distributing 1,000 or more kilograms of marijuana and one of possession with intent to distribute 1,000 or more kilograms of marijuana.…
A Manhattan man arrested for multiple counts of alleged crimes against two elders or dependent adults pleaded not guilty to his charges on Monday in Riley County District Court. Nathan Christopher Bell, 30, entered not guilty pleas to charges of aggravated residential burglary with the intent to commit aggravated battery, two counts of mistreatment of a dependent adult or elder person, aggravated assault with a charging cable, aggravated battery, criminal threat, four counts of domestic battery and three counts of criminal damage to property. Riley County police arrested him on Oct. 30, and he’s been held in jail on a…
Riley County police director Brian Peete is pushing back against the notion that the proposed police budget increase is too high. Peete was responding to criticism from police board members during last week’s meeting, some of whom said the city and county governments — which fund the police department in an 80-20 split — might not be able to pass a similar increase for their budgets. Jim Morrison, a Manhattan city commissioner and member of the Riley County Law Enforcement Agency Board, had said the initial police budget proposals for 2027 can be set up in a better way. He…
A Riley County District Court judge sentenced a St. George man to more than 66 years in prison for rape and other crimes Tuesday in Riley County District Court. Ricky Dunklin, 30, was convicted of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated domestic battery in connection with an incident in April 2021. All four charges involve the same victim. The Mercury does not identify victims of sexual crimes. Dunklin’s previous counsel had made a motion for durational departure. Defense attorney Aaron Gipson elected not to present argument, saying, “Five minutes of talking wouldn’t help my client or the court.”…
Riley County District Court granted an Ogden man a bond modification Monday after he entered a plea agreement with Riley County prosecutors. Ashton Daniel Troughton, 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault of law enforcement officers and agreed to take anger management classes. He will also register as a violent offender. In exchange for his plea, attorneys for the state dropped Troughton’s remaining charge of reckless driving. Police arrested Troughton Dec. 21 for the crimes after he drove his vehicle toward two Riley County Police Department officers who were leaving a call for service at 20949 Tuttle Creek…