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| Man charged in George County sheriff's death |
| By blog.gulflive.com |
| Published: 10/01/2010 |
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LUCEDALE, Mississippi -- One of two suspects accused in the hit-and-run death of George County Sheriff Garry Welford was sentenced Thursday to 18 years on prison on two drug charges. Christopher Lee Baxter skipped a court sentencing July 19, and that led to a pursuit in George County that ended with Welford, 62, being struck and killed by a pickup truck on Bexley Road South, just south of U.S. 98. Welford was placing tire spikes on the road when he was killed. Baxter and Brandy Nicole Williams, 19, have been charged with capital murder in Welford's death. Baxter, who was 24 at the time of Welford's death, had pleaded guilty in April to manufacturing and possession of methamphetamine. On Thursday, Circuit Judge Robert Krebs sentenced Baxter to 18 years in prison on the manufacturing charge and seven years in prison for possession to be served concurrently. Krebs said he could not take into consideration what had happened to Welford in the sentencing but reminded Baxter that he had been told before the July 19 sentencing date that if he got in trouble, "all bets are off." Baxter's failure to appear at the July 19 sentencing showed "contempt and disrespect for the court system," Krebs said. Baxter originally faced a sentence of three years in prison, with seven years in supervised release on the manufacturing plea and three years in prison on the possession charge, Krebs said. After announcing the sentence, Krebs said, "There is a culture in this county among young people of tattoos, drug use, a penchant for violence and disrespect for authority, and this judge will not tolerate it." Baxter's public defender, Brandy Hambright, said Baxter would be held by the state Department of Corrections. No appeal of the drug sentences is planned, she said. Read More. |
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