KINGMAN – A serial arsonist entered a plea agreement during a Tuesday settlement conference in Kingman. 40-year-old Charlie Balluff decided to take a deal after Judge Billy Sipe explained he was looking at a 30- to 100-year prison term if convicted of 22 criminal charges at trial. Deputy Kingman Police Chief Rusty Cooper said Balluff had been connected to more than 400 Kingman area arson incidents dating back to 2013 when he was arrested last June. No one was hurt in the fires, most of them involving dumpsters or brush. The plea deal dismisses 11 arson-related charges, five reckless burning…

KINGMAN – Prison sentences were ordered Thursday for Mohave Valley men who entered plea agreements for separate and unrelated acts of violence. Robert Yale, 28, was convicted of aggravated assault for a June 2017 attack upon his 74-year-old wheelchair-bound grandfather-in-law. Yale admitted he was under the influence of drugs when he kicked the man in the head, causing brain bleeding. “He is very sad that this occurred, just heart broken,” defense attorney Anita Dale said of her client’s remorse. Judge Billy Sipe told Yale that assaulting an elderly, defenseless person was reprehensible. “You kicked him in the head and he…

A four year prison term was ordered Tuesday for a Bullhead City man charged with pummeling and robbing a suspected snitch and for possessing more than a usable amount of heroin. The punishment was stipulated in a plea agreement entered for Jonathan Chades, 30. Chades previously pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of narcotic drugs for sale. Deputy Mohave County attorney Greg McPhillips said Chades and two co-defendants confronted a man they believed was working with law enforcement as an informant on December 6, 2018. He said Chades punched and kicked the man during the violent encounter in the 700…