Nicholas County woman pleads guilty to escaping halfway house

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Nicholas County woman pleaded guilty today to escaping from a halfway house, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Nikki Doddrill, 30, of Summersville, entered her guilty plea to escaping from federal custody.

Doddrill admitted that, while serving a sentence for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, she was transferred to Dismas Charities in St. Albans to complete the remaining six months of her sentence in a residential halfway house. On the evening of May 12, 2015, Doddrill left the halfway house without permission and failed to return. She was apprehended by law enforcement in Richwood on August 27, 2015, and she was incarcerated for the remainder of her sentence.

Doddrill faces up to five years in federal prison when she is sentenced on September 21, 2016.

The United States Marshals Service is responsible for the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Gabriele Wohl is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

The investigation in this case resulted in the third guilty plea this year for escaping from a halfway house. The permissions granted to residents of halfway houses are designed to make transitions from federal prison back into society successful. These cases are part of an effort by the United States Attorney’s Office to deter those serving the remainder of their prison sentences in halfway houses from unlawfully abandoning this transition period before their sentences are complete.

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