CHARLESTON – A man is suing the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDOC) after he claims he was refused time off his sentence for good behavior.
George Belcher Jr. filed the lawsuit against WVDOC in Kanawha Circuit Court. He claims he was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 12, 1985, and he was sentenced to serve jail time for 19 separate counts and was given credit for time served and was to be confined at the state penitentiary in Moundsville.
Belcher claims he was discharged from the facility on Sept. 6, 2017, after serving more than 30 years. He claims during his prison term he was eligible for and should have received all statutory reduction and credit to his sentence for good time and all other sentence credits available to him.
"The defendants failed to timely release the plaintiff from prison in accordance with the sentencing order and the statutory credits that he should have received," the complaint states. "The defendant had a duty to calculate, monitor and administer the sentence ordered against the plaintiff."
Belcher claims the statutory credits were completed and satisfied. He claims WVDOC failed to timely release him, which was a breach of duty.
"As a result of the defendants failure to comply with their legal duty to the plaintiff, the plaintiff suffered damages, he was deprived of his freedom, his civil liberties and a portion of his life and was confined to prison beyond the term of his legal sentence thereof," the complaint states.
Belcher claims the defendant violated both the U.S. Constitution and the state Constitution.
Belcher is seeking compensatory damages. He is represented by Shannon M. Bland of Bland & Bland.
The case was assigned to Circuit Judge Tod J. Kaufman.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 19-C-1095
