155 years in prison time meted out to 7 in one day[07/11/08]

Published 12:00 am Friday, July 11, 2008

In what the prosecutor called “a good day for Warren County,” more than 150 years of prison time was handed down in a two-hour span Wednesday, with the judge sending away a convicted killer and three armed robbers.

Ninth Circuit Judge Frank Vollor sentenced seven defendants to a total of 155 years.

Receiving the longest sentence was Timothy Cordell Clark, 21, 260 Hall Road, who was handed 45 years. On June 16, Clark pleaded guilty to armed carjacking, armed robbery and felony weapon possession. Clark, who already had a previous burglary conviction from 2005, admitted to robbing a man at gunpoint and stealing a 1999 Toyota Avalon, a cell phone and $15. The crime occurred July 4, 2007, in the 1400 block of Openwood Street.

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Clark also faced charges for the July 6, 2007, armed robbery of four people at Vicksburg Paint and Glass, 1301 Holly St., but had those charges dropped as part of his plea agreement.

On Wednesday, Clark’s co-defendant in the robbery at the glass company, Jeremy Wright, 22, 1628 Crawford St., pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced Aug. 15.

Two others who had pleaded guilty on June 16 to armed robbery and were sentenced Wednesday were William Green, 25, 3569 Old Brandon Road in Pearl, and Virgil Woods, 22, 18160 Lincolnshire Blvd. in Ridgeland. The two admitted to a March 13, 2007, armed robbery at Hair It Iz, 1614 Bodley St., and each was handed a 35-year sentence.

“It was a good day for Warren County,” District Attorney Ricky Smith said. “The court sent a message that said if you’re going to commit these violent crimes in Warren County, you’re going to have to pay the consequences. And going by the sentences that were handed out Wednesday, those consequences are going to be severe.”

Sentenced Wednesday to serve 10 years for violating his probation from a 2001 manslaughter conviction was Carrice D. Hodge, 36, 1001 1/2 First East St. Hodge was convicted of the Nov. 9, 1999, shooting death of 19-year-old Otis Ross Jr.

Ross was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest and was found dead in the 1400 block of Jackson Street. Seven years ago, Hodge was handed a 20-year sentence for the crime and was released from prison in March 2007.

Others sentenced Wednesday were:

Jeffery Shelley, 31, 6720 Old Highway 27, who was found guilty by a jury June 27 for sale of cocaine. On Wednesday, Vollor sentenced him to 15 years in prison, which is to be followed by five years of probation. Shelley’s conviction stems from an offense on July 27, 2007, near Fayette and Farmer streets. In addition, Vollor handed Shelley 12 more years in prison for violating a probation that dated back to 2005, when he was convicted of house burglary and vehicle burglary.

James Elbert Ross Jr., 28, 1425 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., who pleaded guilty to two indictments of selling cocaine. For his drug convictions, Vollor handed Ross a total of 10 years in prison, which is to be followed by three years of probation, and ordered him to pay a total of $2,625 in fines, court costs, assessments and restitutions.

Abreyo Fleming, 31, 427 E. Jefferson St. He was found by the court to have violated his probation, which stemmed from a grand larceny conviction in 2000, and was sentenced to serve three years in prison.