Maryland man who threw bonfire party in violation of COVID-19 restrictions gets 1 year behind bars

Man arrested for throwing bonfire party during pandemic says he regrets it

Shawn Marshall Myers is out of jail after Charles County deputies say he threw a bonfire for more than 60 people last month at his Maryland home and he's telling FOX 5 he regrets hosting the gathering.

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. - A Charles County man who hosted a bonfire party with dozens of people in defiance of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s order to refrain from large gatherings will spend a year behind bars.

The Governor instituted the order in March as Maryland fought to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Shawn Marshall Myers, 42, of Hughesville was convicted on Friday of two counts of failure to comply with an emergency order.

As a result, Myers will spend one year in the Charles County Detention Center.

Once he’s out, Myers will spend three years under unsupervised probation.

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Myers was arrested in March when law enforcement responded to his home in the 15200 block of Lukes Lane for a report of a large party.

When they arrived, Myers argued with the officers, but disbanded the party.

About a week later, law enforcement received a similar complaint at Myers home.

When they returned to the scene, Myers challenged the officers again, claiming he had and the guests had a right to gather.

They say Myers not only argued with the officers, he directed his guests to remain in defiance of their orders.

After they failed to convince Myers, he was taken into custody and charged.

Myers, a tattoo artist, later told FOX 5 that he regretted throwing the party when he learned about the devastation COVID-19 caused in a short period of time after it reached the U.S.