JOHN MANIS RICHARDS PLEADS NOT GUILTY

(05/24/2008)
John Manis Richards, 44, has pleaded innocent to the charge of failure to register as a sex offender from April 2007.

Richards, who is under indictment in Gilmer County, was arraigned yesterday in Wood County on the latest charge.

Last March, he was indicted by the Gilmer County grand jury on charges of conspiracy, grand larceny and breaking and entering in connection with the robbery of Hardman's Hardware.

Richards had been eluding authorities for months when he was spotted and caught by the Gilmer County sheriff.

That trial is set for July.

Richards has faced multiple charges in West Virginia and Ohio, including charges of abduction and a sex-related crime in Washington County, Ohio, in 2004.

Richards, according to court records, has an address at 777A Pell St., Grantsville, but in his court file his address is also listed as 29 Kendall Ave., Parkersburg.