Agent Enters ‘No Contest’ Plea in W. Va.

A former insurance agent in Charles Town, W. Va., has entered a “no contest” plea to charges involving money allegedly “withheld, misappropriated or converted to his own use” in his insurance business, according to Jefferson County court records. A second charge alleged that Jeffrey S. Smoot took money from a local social organization.

Smoot pleaded no contest to one count of obtaining money, goods, property or services by fraudulent scheme. A no contest plea means that a defendant is not admitting guilt, but will offer no defense.

If Circuit Court Judge Thomas W. Steptoe Jr. accepts the plea arrangement, Smoot could be sentenced to one- to 10-years in jail.

Smoot, who is free on bond, initially was charged with six counts of falsifying accounts, forgery of public record and two counts of fraudulent scheme in the insurance case and charged with embezzlement in the case involving the social club, according to court records.