News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Ferguson faces new
sex crime charges
A former Grant County
resident who pleaded guilty to
sex crimes last year faces new
charges in a different county
against the same victim.
Chancee Ferguson, 29,
of Bend was indicted by a
Wheeler County grand jury
July 12, 2017, for two counts
of first-degree sodomy and
one count of first-degree sex-
ual abuse against a single vic-
tim younger than 12 in 2006.
Wheeler County Judge
Janet L. Stauffer denied Fer-
guson’s motion to have the
new charges dismissed April
17 — concluding that a 2017
plea agreement in Grant
County did not settle the
Wheeler County matters.
Ferguson had been indict-
ed in Grant County Circuit
Court Jan. 20, 2017, on 11
counts of sex crimes against
a single underage victim for
incidents in 2004, 2007, 2008
and 2011.
Ferguson reached an
agreement with the prosecu-
tors and pleaded guilty May
18, 2017, to one felony, at-
tempting to commit first-de-
gree sexual abuse, and two
misdemeanor charges of sexu-
al misconduct. The charges to
which he pleaded guilty were
committed in 2004 when Fer-
guson was also younger than
18, and the other eight counts
were dismissed as part of the
agreement. He was sentenced
to 364 days in jail and five
years of supervised probation
and was ordered to complete
a sexual offender treatment
program and register as a sex
offender.
After the Wheeler Coun-
ty indictment was filed in
John Day man
arrested following
traffic stop
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
A John Day man has been
charged with two felony drug
charges following a traffic
stop on Highway 395 north of
Mt. Vernon and a search of his
vehicle that turned up a large
quantity
of
methamphet-
amine.
According
to the Oregon
State Police,
Mathew Walk-
er, 34, was
Mathew
charged with
Walker
possession of
methamphet-
amine and delivery of meth-
amphetamine. He is being
held in the Grant County Jail.
OSP stopped a silver
Dodge Stratus for a traffic
violation at about 2:40 p.m.
April 16 and Walker, who
was driving, initially consent-
ed to a search of his vehicle,
according to OSP. During the
search, marijuana, marijuana
paraphernalia and a partial-
ly consumed bottle of tequi-
la were found, after which
Walker revoked consent and
was arrested for a probation
violation, OSP said.
The vehicle was seized and
a drug canine from OSP was
deployed. The dog alerted to
the presence of a controlled
substance, and the Grant
County Interagency Narcotics
Team served a search warrant
Contributed photo
About 4.3 ounces of methamphetamine, along with drug paraphernalia, was discovered
during a warrant search of a silver Dodge Stratus stopped on Highway 395 north of Mt.
Vernon April 16, according to Oregon State Police.
on the vehicle, according to a
press release by Grant County
Undersheriff Zach Mobley.
“During the search of the
vehicle, methamphetamine
paraphernalia and about a
quarter pound of metham-
Theft charges against city cashier dismissed through agreement
Blue Mountain Eagle
Charges against the former city of
John Day cashier accused of theft were
dismissed as part of a civil compromise
April 12.
Janine A. Weaver, 35, Mt. Vernon,
was indicted Dec. 29, 2017, on one
charge of first-degree theft and one
charge of first-degree official miscon-
duct for theft from the city of John Day.
According to a Jan. 2 press release
A3
Quarter-pound of meth
found in man’s car
July 2017, Ferguson’s new
attorney, Jerrett Glass, filed a
motion to dismiss the charges
on the grounds of contract
law, breach of contract and
due process — claiming the
Wheeler County charges
were settled in the Grant
County plea agreement.
Judge Stauffer found that
there was no written evidence
the stipulated Grant County
plea included any other coun-
ties; that the Wheeler County
district attorney did not stip-
ulate to the settlement; and
that the Grant County district
attorney testified the statutory
procedures for global settle-
ments were not followed. She
also found that attorney Rob
Raschio, who represented
Ferguson in the Grant County
matters, did not consult with
the Wheeler County district
attorney and that Raschio
testified he erred in not fol-
lowing the global settlement
statutes.
Stauffer concluded, while
the parties in the Grant
County settlement may
have believed they were
settling matters regarding
allegations in other coun-
ties, the Grant County pros-
ecutors “had no apparent or
actual authority” to do so.
She said Raschio should
have known the Wheeler
County matter would not be
settled without compliance
with the global settlement
statutes or further agree-
ment by the Wheeler Coun-
ty district attorney.
The judge also stated in
the order, “Similar charges
may be filed in other coun-
ties involving alleged crimes
by this defendant against (the
victim) within the boundaries
of those counties.”
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
from the district attorney’s office,
Weaver allegedly took about $1,700 in
cash receipts.
John Day City Manager Nick Green
signed an April 4 affidavit stating he
“received full and complete satisfac-
tion regarding the city’s claim against
(Weaver).” He stated he received au-
thority from the John Day City Coun-
cil to settle the matter for the amount
agreed upon, but the terms were
sealed.
Judge William D. Cramer Jr. granted
Weaver’s motion to dismiss as a civil
compromise April 12.
Before the civil compromise was
reached, a restitution document filed in
court by Grant County District Attorney
Jim Carpenter Feb. 12 showed $713.83
payable to CIS for an insurance claim
after the deductible and $7,113 to the
city of John Day, including a $1,000
insurance deductible and an accounting
investigation fee of $6,113.
phetamine was seized from
the vehicle,” Mobley said.
The narcotics team esti-
mated the street value of the
seized methamphetamine at
about $12,900.
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