ONEONTA _ A Milford man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the alleged theft of fentanyl patches from a burglarized home on Silliman Cove Road.
Joshua M. Beardslee, 23, was charged with second-degree burglary after he was taken into custody by state police, troopers in Oneonta said Wednesday.
The break-in occurred Monday, and Beardslee was located while he visited a friend in the Lower River Street area, troopers said.
He was sent to Otsego County jail on $5,000 bail to await further court action.
Fentanyl is an opioid pain reliever with a potency about 80 times that of morphine.
Ex-Otsego couple arrested
A former Otsego County couple were arrested last month in South Carolina as fugitives, and they were returned to New York on Tuesday.
Melissa A. O'Dell, 28, of Anderson, N.C., and her husband, Jerry O'Dell, no age available, were arrested May 22 at a relative's house where they were staying in Anderson, according to a media release from Otsego County deputies.
Melissa O'Dell was wanted on a violation of felony probation charge, and her husband was the subject of a parole violation warrant.
The two fled the Oneonta area in mid-April, according to deputies.
The sheriff's department learned that they may have been in the Anderson area, and the couple was located by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, deputies said.
Both are being held at the Otsego County jail without bail. Melissa O'Dell could face up to four years in prison on her underlying fourth-degree grand-larceny conviction, deputies said.
Man, 37, alleged in rape
MARYLAND _ A Schenevus man was arrested Saturday for allegedly raping a female friend in his home that morning.
John J. Keever, 37, was charged with first-degree rape and arraigned in Maryland Town Court. He was released from Otsego County jail Sunday on $2,000 bail.
A 33-year-old woman who knows Keever reported that he forced her into sex, state police at Oneonta said Tuesday.
No weapon was used, and the woman was not beaten or otherwise assaulted, they added.
Further court action is pending against Keever.
Area woman to serve on state park commission
ALBANY _ Gretchen S. Sorin, of Springfield Center, has been confirmed by the state Senate to serve as a member of the Central New York State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission.
Sen. James Seward, a member of the Senate Finance Committee that must consider nominations before they are acted on by the full Senate, made the announcement.
Sorin is the director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program in History Museum Studies with SUNY Oneonta and the New York State Historical Association. She is the past chairwoman of the Governor's Commission on the New York State Freedom Trail, and she has helped coordinate various historical exhibitions.
The commission helps communities identify, evaluate, preserve and revitalize their historic, archeological and cultural resources.
The term expires Jan. 31, 2010, and carries no compensation.
