On May 29, 2007, a jury in Charleston, West Virginia, rec­om­mend­ed death sen­tences for George Lecco and Valerie Friend for the mur­der of Carla Collins in order to pro­tect their drug ring. Prosecutors main­tained that Lecco arranged to have Collins killed and that Friend did the shoot­ing in 2005. Formal sen­tenc­ing was sched­uled for August 23. The judge is required to fol­low the jury’s rec­om­men­da­tion. These are the first fed­er­al death sen­tences in West Virginia since the fed­er­al law was rein­stat­ed in 1988. (Charleston Daily Mail, May 29, 2007). West Virginia is the sixth state with­out its own death penal­ty to have a fed­er­al death sen­tence hand­ed down. All such sen­tences have come since 2000. Valerie Friend will be the sec­ond woman on fed­er­al death row. 

See Federal Death Penalty.

Citation Guide