“If Wise County had a ‘Best of the Best’ award for thieving, the award would go to Mickey Hollyfield,” said Brett Hall, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Wise County and the City of Norton.
That comment came after Hollyfield, a 39-year-old from Pound, pled guilty to 50 counts of theft-related crimes on Sept. 9. Those offenses include:
- Grand larceny (x8)
- Petit larceny (x10)
- Forgery (x11)
- Conspiracy to commit forgery (x10)
- Uttering (x10)
- Possession of stolen property (x1)
All of these offenses were committed in the first half of 2023. According to Hall, between January and June last year, Hollyfield committed a string of thefts that included taking a large amount of personal property from people in the Pound area and eastern Kentucky.
In one instance, according to Wise County Sheriff’s Office E.G Kilgore, a call came in on May 23, 2023, about a boat stolen from North Ford Rd. in Pound. The office worked with Kentucky State Police and Letcher County, KY Sheriff’s Office and they found the boat in Kentucky.
Hollyfield was one of four people arrested for that incident, said Kilgore. The other three individuals were Kentucky residents. All four were charged in Virginia and Kentucky, he said.
Hollyfield sold some of the stolen goods, destroyed some, and, on multiple occasions, was caught by Wise County police with goods that were allegedly stolen, said Hall.
He also got his hands on some checks, and him and a co-conspirator, tried to get money by attempting to use the checks as their own, the commonwealth’s attorney added.
In addition to run-ins with Wise police, Hollyfield was picked up by police in Kentucky several times for possession of meth and driving suspended, Hall noted. A Kentucky judge gave Hollyfield the chance to complete a 6-month in-patient rehab program, but according to Hall, he left the facility after about a month and returned to using drugs.
After his guilty plea in Wise Circuit Court this week, Judge Ron Elkins sentenced him to 20 years with 12 suspended. He is also subject to 10 years of good behavior, 5 years of supervised probation, and $11,000 in restitution.
Leading up to this week’s court proceedings, Hollyfield was being held in Southwest Virginia Regional in Duffield, which is where he remains as he’s currently awaiting placement by the Department of Corrections, Hall said.
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