At last, some Americans with a bit of common sense!
A Maryland man has been sentenced to one year in jail after throwing multiple parties in violation of the state’s COVID-19 social distancing orders.
Shawn Marshall Myers, 42, of Hughesville, held two big parties in late March after Governor Larry Hogan banned gatherings consisting of more than 10 people.
According to a press release from the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office, Myers was convicted of two counts of Failure to Comply with an Emergency Order on Sept. 25 and sentenced to one year in prison, followed by a three-year period of unsupervised probation.
Myers’ legal troubles began on March 22 when police arrived at his Hughesville residence after receiving multiple reports of a large gathering underway, the state’s attorney’s office said.
According to police, Myers was hosting about fifty people. Myers was initially “argumentative” with officers, the state’s attorney’s office said. Police informed him that the gathering was a violation of the governor’s State of Emergency and Large Gathering Orders, which states that “a person who knowingly and willfully violates this Order is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both.”
However, he eventually agreed to shut down the festivities, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
But just five days later Myers was back to hosting, throwing another, even larger party – and this time, he refused to shut things down when police arrived.
“Officers told Myers to disband the party, but again he was argumentative claiming he and his guests had the right to congregate,” the state’s attorney’s office said in the press release.
“Beyond being argumentative, Myers directed his guests to stay in defiance of Governor Hogan’s Orders and the officers’ lawful orders to disband the party. Officers tried to reason with Myers and obtain his cooperation to no avail. Myers was then apprehended.”
In addition to his year-long sentence and three years of probation, District Court Judge W. Louis Hennessy also ordered Myers to pay a fine of US$5,000.
Maryland is in the process of gradually reopening after months of social distancing measures. As of Sept. 29, the state has recorded 123,880 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,793 confirmed deaths from the virus, according to Maryland’s tracking website.
