Joseph de Soto
MARTINSBURG – A criminal trial has been delayed for a man who was elected to the House of Delegates but never served.
On July 13, Dr. Joseph de Soto appeared in Berkeley Circuit Court. A status hearing took place Monday instead of the previously scheduled pretrial hearing for a trial that was going to begin next week. On June 26, Lorensen ordered the jury trial set for July 21 to be removed from the docket.
De Soto was arrested in December 2025 on a felony charge for making terroristic threats to lawmakers. Earlier this year, the 62-yea-old de Soto was charged by a Berkeley County grand jury with unlicensed practice of medicine, misrepresentation of authorization to practice medicine, false indication or inducement of authorization to practice medicine, misrepresentation of past military status or military award, threats of terrorist acts and grossly inaccurate campaign finance statement. The indictment by the Grand Jury comes after a Dec. 12, 2025 arrest.
In the evidence presented to the grand jury, de Soto allegedly made threats to kill at least five members of the West Virginia Legislature. He has been out on bond and on home confinement since December.
On Monday, de Soto’s attorney Andrew Arnold told Lorensen he is awaiting an expert to do an evaluation in the case. Arnold also asked Lorenson for an extension and requested a status hearing in 90 days, which is now set for October 13.
Filings show the defense wanted to “explore having the Defendant (de Soto) evaluated for criminal responsibility at the time of the allegation(s).”
“If the defendant herein intends to rely upon the defense of insanity at the time of the alleged crime, that the defendant serve the state with written notice of defendant’s intention to offer a defense of insanity at the time of the alleged crime,” Berkeley County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Raymond E. Boyce Jr. wrote in a filing from earlier this year. “The state further demands that if the defendant intends to introduce expert testimony relating to a mental disease, defect or other condition bearing upon the issue, whether the defendant had the mental state required for the offense charged, that the defendant serve the state with written notice thereof, including the name and address of each witness.”
The notice also demands the defense present the prosecution with results and/or reports of physical or mental examinations.
De Soto was elected to a House seat in 2024 as a Republican from the 91st District in Berkeley County, but he switched his party affiliation to Democrat the same week he was arrested in December 2024 and charged with making threats of terrorist acts to several delegates. That case was bound over to circuit court last year, but no hearing has taken place there yet.
Last year, de Soto sued the wife of a now-deceased lawmaker, accusing her of defamation, extortion, sexual misconduct, political retaliation and more.
In the civil complaint, de Soto blamed Cheryl Kump, the wife of former Delegate Larry Kump (R-Berkeley), for a chain of events that led to his arrest and ouster from office as well as other damages. He seeks more than $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
