“Four men who pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in connection with an incident at a Grasonville hotel last September received sentences ranging from probation to three years in state prison. Justin David Lee Ruffner, Lovell Exra Mills, Michael Henry Bailey and Joshua John Frederick Fischer were accused of assaulting Stephen Kimble at a room in the Best Western Hotel on September 13, 2008. The Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
Police said Kimble was invited to the motel room to meet a friend. When he came inside, the four men assaulted Kimble and took $60 in cash; a gold and diamond watch valued at $2,700; a gold and diamond earring valued at $4,000; and a gold necklace valued at $400. Police also said one man displayed a handgun, and Kimble was forced to sign a note promising to pay Bailey $50,000. Police said Kimble had marks on his face, neck and shoulder from the assault. The four men fled in a red Ford pickup truck, but were apprehended on U.S. Route 50 in Anne Arundel County by Maryland Transportation Authority Police.
Ruffner was sentenced June 30 to two months and 29 days in the Queen Anne’s County Detention Center; nine years, nine months and one day of the 10-year sentence were suspended. Ruffner will be put on supervised probation for five years after his release, and he was ordered to pay a fine of $350 and court costs of $145.
Bailey, 23, of Glen Burnie, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and entered an Alford plea to an amended charge of misdemeanor theft. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but concedes the state has enough evidence to convict him of the charge. The state dropped the other three charges. Bailey was sentenced June 22 to one year and three months in the Queen Anne’s County Detention Center. Ten years and three months of prison time were suspended. Bailey was recommended for work release and to be placed on home detention after serving 90 days in the detention center. Bailey will be placed on five years supervised probation after his release from jail, and he was ordered to pay $2,002.12 in restitution to Kimble.
Mills, 29, of Baltimore, entered an Alford plea to second-degree assault. The state dropped the other four charges. Mills was sentenced April 30 to three years in the state Division of Correction, with seven years of prison time suspended. He will be put on five years supervised probation after his release.
Fischer, 22, of Rosedale, received a suspended sentence April 30. He was ordered to pay a $750 fine and placed on three years supervised probation. All five years of prison time were suspended.
Defense attorneys for Bailey, Mills and Fischer filed motions asking the court to modify or reduce the sentences for their clients. Attorney Paul R. Kramer, representing Bailey, filed a motion July 2 asking that Bailey be eligible for home detention after serving 60 days or 30 days in the detention center instead of 90 days. Kramer wrote in the motion that Bailey loaned Kimble money that was not repaid. Kramer wrote that no crime was intended, but that it was Bailey’s intent to get Kimble to sign a “”confessed judgment note”” and work out an agreed payment plan.
“