WELLSBURG — Guilty pleas were entered Monday in separate cases involving child neglect creating substantial risk of death or injury and fleeing with reckless indifference to the safety of others.

Brianna Mitchell, 32, of Wellsburg pleaded guilty to the child neglect charge, a felony, and through a plea agreement, was sentenced to two years of supervised probation, during which she must undergo treatment through the county’s drug court.

First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo noted, pending successful completion of the drug court program, Mitchell will be sentenced to another 10 years of supervised probation.

She also has been ordered to register with the state’s child abuse and neglect registry for 10 years.

The plea agreement was reached by Mitchell’s attorney, Sean Logue, and Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney Allison Cowden.

Cowden told the court on March 5, Brooke County sheriff’s deputies responding to a fire at the Wellsburg home of Mitchell and her boyfriend were unable to enter because its doors had been obstructed.

She said an investigation of the home found conditions there were deplorable and a child in their care had been exposed to methamphetamine.

Cowden noted Mitchell’s boyfriend — named in court documents as 33-year-old Dallas W. Goddard III — was found by the deputies holding Mitchell and the child captive in a vehicle.

She said one of the deputies was able to de-escalate the situation, and he was apprehended.

Goddard has been charged with child neglect creating risk of death or injury and kidnapping. His case is pending in Brooke County Circuit Court.

In another case, Luke Martin, 32, of Moundsville pleaded guilty to a fleeing charge and was sentenced to one to five years of house arrest, while wearing an electronic device that monitors his location.

The sentence came following statements by his attorney, Kevin Neiswonger, that his client has undergone counseling since his arrest and has tremendous remorse for the actions that led to his arrest.

Addressing the court, Martin apologized “to the citizens of Brooke County, the court and (West Virginia State) Trooper (Donald) Meredith,” adding he was thankful no one was hurt or killed.

Martin said he was under the influence of marijuana and was undergoing mental health counseling, though he didn’t want to use the latter as an excuse for his actions.

“I was wrong. I take full responsibility for my actions,” he told the court, adding, “I’m sorry. This will never happen again.”

Through a video link, Meredith told the court the number of occasions in which Martin put others at risk during the pursuit was the most he had seen for a daytime incident of that nature.

The Brooke County grand jury indictment against Martin states after the state trooper attempted to stop him, he proceeded on state Route 2 at a high rate of speed, passing vehicles in the oncoming lane, running off the roadway and through red lights, on Feb. 4, 2024.

Cuomo said, “I am torn a bit in this case.”

But he said Martin appears to be doing well under house arrest conditions imposed since his arrest and will face stricter penalties if he fails to comply with them when he returns for a parole hearing next year.