State says Marie Martin had about 1,000 tires on her property.
This photo supplied by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows tires in a heap last summer at the home of Kenneth Kenyon, 122 Bardeen Road, Hastings. On Aug. 17, 2009, there were approximately 259 tires at the site, according to the state DEC.Hastings, NY -- A Hastings woman was fined $35,000 for illegally storing tires on her property, and her fiance faces jail time and fines for illegally disposing of those tires in five different towns, a state official said this week.
The fine was leveled against Marie Martin, of 122 Bardeen Road, for storing about 1,000 tires on her three-quarter acre property. She said the fine has been put onto her taxes and she is paying some of it off each year.
Hastings Town Justice Ronald Myers and state Department of Conservation officer Anthony Panipinto said the tires came from tire dealers and junkyards that were trying to get rid of them.
Martin said her fiance, Kenneth Kenyon, worked for a junkyard and took tires from that junkyard to a certified junkyard in Watertown. “He was putting them at my house and taking them to Watertown at night,” she said.
Kenyon is accused of taking the tires off Martin’s property and disposing of them on private property in Hastings, Palermo and Parish in Oswego County, the town of Watertown in Jefferson County and town of Osceola in Lewis County.
Martin was charged more than a year ago with violating a local Hastings codes law about operating a junkyard. She was charged after her neighbors complained to Hastings codes officers about the mess. Martin said the neighbors called codes, the county health department and the Department of Social Services because of the tire situation.
Panipinto said after the codes office cited Martin, Kenyon began disposing of the tires. Kenyon was charged last August with violating DEC solid waste law for illegally disposing of tires. He faces eight charges in Hastings, four in Parish, two in Osceola, two in Watertown and two in Palermo.
He pleaded guilty recently to the two charges in Palermo court and was sentenced to time served.
Kenyon, 29, is being held in the Oswego County jail because of a warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in Hastings court to answer the charges, authorities said.
He is being held in lieu of $3,500 cash bail or $7,000 bond for the tire charges and an unrelated DEC charge of shooting a gun within 500 feet of a residence.
Panipinto said Kenyon “missed a lot of court appearances.” Myers agreed. There also is a warrant for his arrest issued by the town of Watertown court for failure to show up for a court appearance there on the tire charges.
Myers said the reason Kenyon is being held in jail is because he had not shown up for court dates. He said on one occasion, Kenyon called to say he was out of town and couldn’t come to court while he actually was at home.
Kenyon is scheduled to be in Hastings court today. Martin said Kenyon wants to plead guilty to the charges.
She said Kenyon tried to make his court dates, but often couldn’t because he was out of town.
“He called the (Hastings) court to say he was out of town, and they said they would sent a letter and when he should come to court,” Martin said. Instead he was arrested, she said.
“I believe he’s getting the run-around,” Martin said. “He tried to do what needed to be done” concerning the charges, Martin said.
She also said she thinks Kenyon is being held in jail, because Myers won’t schedule a court date. Myers said he has wanted to get Kenyon into court quickly to get the cases “taken care of.”
Myers said Kenyon is due to be released from jail today. The court document for his charges in Hastings court states he has “more than one charge” against him. Myers said this legally means two charges.
The maximum sentence for each of the solid waste charges is 15 days in jail, so the most he can spend in jail for the Hastings charges is 30 days. Those 30 days are up Monday.
But since there is a town of Watertown warrant for his arrest on file at the Oswego County jail, he will be re-arrested when he is released from Oswego County jail today. Then he will be sent to Jefferson County to answer the charges against him there.
--Contact Debra J. Groom at dgroom@syracuse.com, 470-3254 or 251-5586.