News and Press Releases

DOJ Seal

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA

William J. Ihlenfeld, II
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY


1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

 

November 10, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Two Defendants Indicted for
Failure to Update Sex Offender Registration

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Two defendants were named in separate Indictments returned by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on November 4, 2010.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

JESSE JAMES ROTON, age 42, was named in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that from August 15, 2010, to September 8, 2010, in Morgantown, West Virginia, ROTON, who was required to register under the Sex Offender Notification Act and who traveled in interstate commerce, knowingly failed to update his registration. If convicted, ROTON faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

ZACKARY SCOTT WATKINS, age 21, of Jackson, Mississippi, was named in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that from July 2010 to September 16, 2010, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, WATKINS, who was required to register under the Sex Offender Notification Act and who traveled in interstate commerce, knowingly failed to update his registration. If convicted, WATKINS faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The cases will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn Angus Morgan and were investigated by the United States Marshal Service.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.