Prostitution hearing for Ohio Craigslist suspect

Richard J. Beasley appears in Sum­mit County Com­mon Pleas Court on drug charges Thurs­day in Akron. Beasley is a sus­pect in the deadly Craigslist rob­bery scheme. Author­i­ties have linked two bod­ies and the shoot­ing of a man who sur­vived to the Craigslist scheme, which tar­geted sin­gle, out-of-work men. (Asso­ci­ated Press | Tony Dejak)

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

THOMAS J. SHEERAN

Asso­ci­ated Press

COLUMBUS — A sus­pect in a deadly Craigslist rob­bery scheme pleaded not guilty to unre­lated pros­ti­tu­tion charges Fri­day, while an inves­ti­ga­tion con­tin­ues into two deaths and a non­fa­tal shoot­ing linked to the plot.

No charges related to the scheme have been filed against Richard Beasley, but the FBI has placed a hold on Beasley requir­ing the agency to be noti­fied if he’s released from jail.

Beasley was arraigned in Sum­mit County Com­mon Pleas Court in Akron on a 15-count pros­ti­tu­tion indict­ment, includ­ing one count that he pressed a 17-year-old boy into prostitution.

Beasley plans to fight the charges, said his attor­ney, Rhonda Kot­nik. She asked for more time to review evi­dence in light of the prosecution’s announced plan to add a rack­e­teer­ing count to the case against Beasley.

Bond on an unre­lated drug charge against Beasley was revoked Thurs­day and bond was set ear­lier at $1 mil­lion on the pros­ti­tu­tion case.

Also, a new court date has been set to deter­mine if an Ohio teen charged in the Craigslist plot should be tried as an adult.

Bro­gan Raf­ferty, 16, of Akron faces juve­nile charges of aggra­vated mur­der, com­plic­ity to aggra­vated mur­der, attempted mur­der and com­plic­ity to attempted mur­der in the death of a Nor­folk, Va., man and the shoot­ing of a man from South Carolina.

The assign­ment com­mis­sioner of Noble County Pro­bate Court sched­uled a Dec. 15 hear­ing for Rafferty.

Raf­ferty appeared briefly in court ear­lier this week but the hear­ing was post­poned because his father, who wasn’t present, hadn’t received proper notice of new charges filed last week.

Author­i­ties say the teenager was involved in a scheme in which appli­cants answer­ing a phony Craigslist ad for farm work were robbed, then killed. Two bod­ies and a man who sur­vived the shoot­ing have been tied to the scheme, while inves­ti­ga­tors haven’t said whether another body, found in Noble County last week, is also connected.

Funeral ser­vices are sched­uled Tues­day in Mas­sil­lon for Tim­o­thy Kern, 47, who inter­viewed for the job ear­lier this month, and was last seen leav­ing to meet Beasley on Nov. 13. Author­i­ties found his body Nov. 29 in a shal­low grave near an Akron shop­ping mall.

Posted by AP News on Dec 2 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.