Prosecutor has no regrets helping veteran instead of locking him up

No Regrets
Metro News
Staff
Martinsburg

Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely says she has no regrets about how the case of a Virginia National Guardsman turned out.

Billy Alemar, 23, of Martinsburg faced charges of making terroristic threats and wearing body armor in the commission of a felony. He was arrested in August when police caught him jogging in full combat dress and carrying a training rifle near two Martinsburg schools.

Alemar pleaded no contest Wednesday to He to public intoxication and disturbing a school--both misdemeanors.

"We believe the (original) charge was correct at the time we did it. Officers did exactly what they needed to do," said Games-Neely. "However, I was confronted with an individual who had other issues that needed to be dealt with."

The main issue was Alemar suffered from undiagnosed PTSD after his service in Iraq. Games-Neely says immediately they informed defense counsel they had no interest in pursuing the felonies, but simply wanted an acknowledgment he'd done something wrong and to get him into treatment.
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