A service of Salisbury University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Virginia Couple Get Plea After Arrest at Nuke Plant

PennEnergy

YORK, Pa. (AP) - A Virginia man and woman who got lost in Pennsylvania and entered the property of a nuclear plant by cutting a chain at a gate have pleaded guilty to some charges in exchange for no additional jail time.

Twenty-nine-year-old Timothy Stewart and 33-year-old Jenilee Simpson have been in York County Prison since their arrest in May at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.

Authorities said the Chesapeake, Virginia couple were driving from Baltimore to New York and apparently cut the chain while trying to get back on the right road.

An Exelon spokeswoman said they never posed a threat and were being monitored by security all the time they were on plant property.

Both pleaded guilty Tuesday to defiant trespass and other charges and were sentenced to 130-plus-days to 23 months and fined. Prosecutors dropped felony criminal trespass counts.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.