The Pleasants County Courthouse is shown in this file photo. A petition seeking the revocation of Pleasants County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Carr's law license confirmed the existence of a federal investigation into his role in dismissing criminal charges in exchange for monetary donations.

CHARLESTON — A filing by the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel seeking the suspension of Pleasants County Prosecutor Brian Carr’s law license confirms he and an assistant prosecutor are under a federal criminal investigation.

The March 11 filing by Rachel L. Fletcher Cipoletti, chief lawyer disciplinary counsel for the ODC, says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern Division of West Virginia is investigating Carr and Assistant Prosecutor Paul Marteney for their involvement with dismissing certain misdemeanors in exchange for cash donations to the St. Marys Police Department’s Slow Down for the Holidays program. The office has previously refused to confirm or deny an investigation.

“(The U.S. Attorney’s Office) sent an email … which stated ‘[a]s we’ve previously discussed, you are correct there is an ongoing criminal investigation of both attorneys concerning their involvement in the subject program,'” Cipoletti wrote.

The Investigative Panel of the West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board charged Carr and Marteney in October with multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct for dismissing select state misdemeanor charges between 2018 and 2020 in exchange for monetary donations to the Slow Down for the Holidays program.

Begun by the St. Marys Police Department in 2008 when Carr was a municipal judge, the program allowed motorists to have tickets for minor traffic infractions dismissed if a toy or gift card donation was made to the program. However, state investigators said Carr and Marteney’s selection of only a few misdemeanor cases, some for driving under the influence, in exchange for monetary donations constituted a “bribe.”

In the March 11 petition, Cipoletti said Carr committed violations of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct and “poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public.” She said Carr is accused of 178 violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct in 21 separate counts.

The hearing panel subcommittee of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board granted a motion to stay the disciplinary case against both Carr and Marteney earlier this month for 90 days after it was revealed there were ongoing state and federal criminal investigations into their role in the Slow Down program. A status conference is scheduled for June 23.

Read more in Thursday’s edition of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.