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Archive for the ‘courts’ Category

CHS grad given 43 years in murder trial

Posted in courts, tagged , , , , on June 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Jermiah Copeland, seen here in 2023.

Coupeville High School graduate Jermiah Copeland pled guilty to unpremeditated murder charges Monday in Virginia and was sentenced to 44 years in prison, with one year suspended for time served.

In his plea agreement, the former Navy sailor, now 21, was guilty of five of seven charges in the 2025 death of Petty Officer Angelina Resendiz.

This includes “aggravated assault strangulation, indecent recording, obstruction of justice, and false official statement,” while a premeditated murder charge was reduced to an unpremeditated murder charge.

Copeland, who receives a dishonorable discharge and reduction of rank to Seaman Apprentice, is slated to serve his sentence at Leavenworth Federal Prison in Kansas.

He and Resendiz both served on the USS James E. Williams.

In the plea agreement, Copeland admitted to strangling the fellow sailor to death in his barracks during a night of drinking, then lying to NCIS investigators when interviewed about her disappearance.

In court, prosecutor Lauren Mayo stated that Copeland concealed Resendiz’s body in a suitcase before abandoning it in a wooden area, where it was discovered a week later.

She described his actions as “manipulative and deceitful,” not “impulsive behavior,” but “calculated.”

Copeland attended his senior year of high school in Coupeville after transferring from Oak Harbor. He was a member of the Wolves varsity basketball team during the 2022-2023 season.

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Convict walks, victim doesn’t

Posted in courts, tagged , , , , , on September 15, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Dennis Phillips, seen here before he was attacked and paralyzed during a robbery at his home.

Former Coupeville High School athlete Paul Schmakeit served half his sentence for his role in a home break-in which left the 68-year-old homeowner, Dennis Phillips, permanently paralyzed.

The Washington Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification Service (VINE) reported Schmakeit was released Friday from custody at the Monroe Corrections Center.

After pleading guilty to second degree residential burglary and assault charges, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison Oct. 28, 2016.

He began his sentence at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton before being transferred to Monroe.

As a young man, Schmakeit played on the 2010 Central Whidbey Little League Juniors baseball team which won a state title.

He went on to play football and baseball at Coupeville High School, graduating in 2013.

Schmakeit and Codie Burley broke into a Greenbank residence July 27, 2015 — allegedly in an attempt to obtain marijuana plants — when Phillips unexpectedly returned and engaged the robbers.

The former Wolf football player tackled the older man, landing on top of him and breaking his back, as detailed in police reports.

Schmakeit fled into the woods and was later arrested while trying to avoid a customs inspection at the Canadian border at Sumas.

He was found in possession of a handgun.

Burley is currently serving time at the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Thurston County.

Phillips, who was not discovered until six hours after the crime, underwent extensive spinal surgery but remains paralyzed below the waist to this day.

 

To help Phillips and his family, pop over to:

https://www.gofundme.com/3p53prmk

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Former Wolf faces first-degree charges

Posted in courts, tagged , , , , on August 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Paul Schmakeit during his days as a CHS baseball player. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Paul Schmakeit during his days as a CHS baseball player. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Former Coupeville High School athlete Paul Schmakeit has been charged with first degree assault and first degree burglary and could face up to 34 months in prison.

The 2013 grad, who played baseball and football for the Wolves, was charged in Island County Superior Court this week and is being held in jail on $150,000 bail.

The charges stem from a burglary on the South end of the Island July 27 which left the home-owner, 68-year-old Dennis Phillips, paralyzed.

Schmakeit was later arrested at the Sumas border and also faces charges in Canada.

He attempted to avoid a customs inspection and a handgun was found in his car after his arrest by border authorities, according to a detective’s report.

During the Whidbey robbery, Phillips arrived home and surprised Schmakeit, then went after him with a shovel.

A police report states Phillips told detectives that Schmakeit speared him, knocking him to the ground. The two then fought on the ground, with the homeowner biting the younger man’s finger.

Phillips, who suffered from a previous back injury, was not able to move or feel his legs after the attack and was not found until five hours after Schmakeit is alleged to have fled the scene.

Schmakeit has no prior criminal record.

Prosecutors could consider adding “aggravating circumstance” of deliberate cruelty, because of the victim being left paralyzed.

That would allow a judge to increase the sentence above the standard range if a guilty verdict is reached, but the jury would have to approve it.

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