Crimes/Punishment News

Love, Lies and Drugs lead to 19 Probation Violations and Loss of Freedom

Trudy Dowler, who was convicted of Conspiracy and Robbery 1st Degree in 2017, has been incarcerated in the Central Regional Jail in Flatwoods for multiple violations of her probation. On September 17, 2017 Dowler was placed on 5 years probation. On December 18, 2018, the defendant was found to have violated her probation and was sentenced to 30 days in the regional jail as a sanction. Again on June 11, 2020 she was found to have committed her 2nd technical violation of probation and ordered to serve 90 days in the regional jail as a sanction.

Her third offense was committed on June 21, 2022, when she failed to submit verification of attending any NA/AA meeting forms since her last meeting on May 13, 2022 meeting. ​By not attending two (2) NA/AA meetings per week and providing verification of attendance she had violated her terms and conditions of her probation supervision. ​On the same date of June 21, 2022 it was noticed that Dowler was wearing an engagement ring. She admitted to having been in a relationship with Terry Duke for the past nine months who had a conviction of Possession with Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance in Randolph County. He was sentenced to one to five years in Department of Corrections custody on August 28, 2017 and discharged on April 11, 2022. A copy of their “Facebook relationship status” was entered into evidence. It was found that by associating with Terry Duke, a known felon, Trudy Dowler had once again violated her probation for the fourth time.

On July 12 the defendant reported that she was starting therapy with Westbrook due to job stress and the end of her relationship with her fiancée.

On August 23, 2022, Dowler said that she had taken a voluntary leave from work to deal with her grandmother’s estate and her health issues. But it was discovered through Westbrook records that she was suspended from her job in July 2022 because she had failed a drug screen for Methamphetamine and her supervisor told her to seek treatment at Westbrook. By not notifying her supervising officer of her change in job status, not being truthful as to why the change occurred and her relapse in substance abuse, she was yet again in violation of the terms of her probation for the fifth, sixth and seventh time.

On September 8, 2022, Trudy Dowler failed to present to her scheduled drug screen at Day Report, making her eighth violation.

A ninth violation came when she failed to report another job change in that she was working at the Lost Anchor restaurant part time and a tenth violation when she failed to appear for another scheduled drug screen on October 5, 2022. The eleventh violation of not notifying her probation officer of a change in password for social media accounts (mandatory by her rules of probation) occurred on October 18th, 2022.

On October 28th, 2022 her Probation Officer Alisha Lawson, with the assistance of Wood County Probation Officer Sherry Hall and Wood County Deputy Waters, conducted a home visit on the Defendant. Terry Duke, a convicted felon, and Christopher Persiani, a convicted felon on parole from McDowell County were at the home. An authorized search of the Defendant’s home revealed the following items that are in violation of the Defendant’s probation terms and conditions: a glass pipe; a spoon with a white substance on it; three syringes; tin foil with a white crystal substance that appears to be Methamphetamine; a pocket knife; twelve 100 dollar bills with the word “Copy” emblazoned on them; a small Marijuana plant; and mail with Terry Duke’s name with the Defendant’s address. An authorized search of the Defendant’s phone shows that she had been in Virginia over the weekend.

Violations twelve through nineteen occurred through those events and a motion to revoke probation was filed in Calhoun Circuit Court on October 31, 2022.

A hearing on the motion to revoke has been scheduled for November 10th, 2022.