A man who lived in Maryland was sentenced to a year in prison for throwing a party at his house that violated the governor's coronavirus restrictions on gatherings. At the time, Gov. Larry Hogan’s emergency order prohibited gatherings of more than ten people.
Shawn Marshall Myers was arrested in March after having two parties at his home in Hughesville in southern Maryland both parties had at least 50 people in attendance.
The state's attorney for Charles County, Tony Covington, said in a press release "Large gatherings were strictly prohibited under the orders. Myers had approximately fifty people in attendance at his residence. Upon arrival, officers told Myers that his party violated the current mandate. Myers was argumentative with officers but eventually agreed to disband his party."
Not even a week later police were called back to another big gathering at Myers's house again with over 50 people but this time refused to shut it down.
Myers was sentenced to serve a year in jail, he was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and will be on unsupervised probation for three years.
According to BuzzFeed
A 42-year-old man in Maryland was sentenced Friday to one year in prison after throwing two large parties in violation of the governor's coronavirus protective orders.
Shawn Marshall Myers was convicted of two counts of failure to comply with an emergency order and was immediately sentenced to serve a year in the Charles County Detention Center and three years of unsupervised probation after his release, the Charles County State's Attorney's Office (CCSAO) said.
Myers had hosted a party at his home in Hughesville on March 22 with approximately 50 guests, despite statewide coronavirus safety orders from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan that banned large gatherings. When law enforcement officers arrived at his home, Myers was "argumentative," prosecutors said, but eventually agreed to disband the party.
Officers responded again to reports of another large party at Myers' home five days later. He also argued with officers this time, according to prosecutors, and told them that it was within his and his guests' right to congregate. Myers told his guests to defy statewide protective orders and the officers' request that they leave, prosecutors said, and he was then arrested.