A 26 year old man, originally charged with four counts of rape of a child and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, received a ten year sentence in criminal court Friday.
Derek Riggs pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Judge David Patterson handed down a ten year sentence in each case to be served concurrently. Riggs’ name will be added to the state sexual offender registry and he will be under lifetime supervision. All other counts against him were dismissed including a domestic assault. He was given credit for time served from April 27th, 2007 to July 25th, 2008.
Riggs was arrested in April, 2007 by the Smithville Police Department. Former Police Chief Thomas J. Stufano, in a prepared news release at that time stated that “Smithville Investigators assigned to the Sexual Assault unit had received information from a family member that Riggs was having sexual contact with his two biological children ages 4 and 6 in a motor home he was staying in on Smith Road. Through a series of interviews with family members and the juvenile victims along with forensic information, Investigators were able to determine that Riggs had sodomized and raped his four year old daughter and six year old son on a number of occasions. Smithville Police conducted a taped interview with Riggs who did admit to the sexual contacts.”
32 year old Greg Hallback pleaded guilty to solicitation for resale of a schedule II controlled substance. He received a two year sentence, suspended to time served. He will be on good behavior probation. He was given credit for 272 days of jail time served.
45 year old Edward Judkins pleaded guilty to simple possession and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, all suspended except for 60 days to serve. The sentence is to run consecutive to another case against him.
64 year old Billy Eaton pleaded guilty to sale of a schedule II controlled substance and received a four year sentence, all suspended except for 90 days to serve. He was fined $2,000 and must perform 100 hours of community service work. Eaton was given credit for 17 days of jail time served.
27 year old Timothy Likens pleaded guilty to violation of the sex offender registry and received a two year sentence, all suspended to time served. He also pleaded guilty to violation of community supervision, and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, all suspended to time served. The cases are to run concurrently. He was given credit for115 days of jail time served.
27 year old Brandon Caldwell pleaded guilty to sale of a schedule II controlled substance. He was sentenced to four years, all suspended to probation. He must pay a $2,000 fine, perform 100 hours of community service work, and make restitution of $150 to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. Caldwell was given five days of jail credit.
37 year old David Vanatta pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. He received a four year sentence in each case, all suspended except for 90 days to serve. The sentences are to run concurrently but consecutive to a violation of probation he is serving from General Sessions Court. Vanatta must pay a $2,000 fine, perform 100 hours of community service work, and make restitution of $180 to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. He was given jail credit from May 19th to July 25th.
49 year old Gwynn Prater pleaded guilty to three counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. He received a three year sentence in each case to run concurrently with each other but consecutive to a violation of probation against him. Prater received jail credit from December 7th, 2007 to July 25th, 2008.
30 year old Jeremy Bandy pleaded guilty to two counts of sale and two counts of delivery of a schedule II controlled substance. He was sentenced to four years on the two counts of sale of a controlled substance to run concurrently. He was placed on probation, ordered to make restitution of $180, perform 100 hours of community service work, and pay a $2,000 fine.
27 year old Kenny Bain pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. One of the counts was dismissed. He was sentenced to three years but will be on supervised probation. He must pay a $2,000 fine, undergo an alcohol and drug assessment, make restitution of $50 to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, and perform 100 hours of community service work.
34 year old Scotty Wayne Neisz pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape and two counts of theft of property over $1,000. All sentences are to run concurrently. He received a total of four years, all suspended except for one year to serve. Neisz must make restitution to the victims in the theft cases and he must comply with all sex offender requirements. He was given credit for 231 days of jail time served.
29 year old Scotty Knowles pleaded guilty to theft and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, all suspended. The case is to run concurrently with a violation of probation case in DeKalb County General Sessions Court. He was given jail credit from February 10th through June 5th.
23 year old Nickey Reece, Jr. pleaded guilty to simple assault and theft. He was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in each case, all suspended to time served. He will be on probation. The cases are to run concurrently. Reece must make restitution of $2,000. He was given jail credit of 121 days.
63 year old James Harold Davis, charged with introduction of contraband into the jail, was granted judicial diversion probation for a period of three years. He must perform 100 hours of community service work.
25 year old Paul Eric Ervin, charged with sale of a schedule II controlled substance, was granted pre-trial diversion probation under a memorandum of understanding for a period of two years. He must perform 100 hours of community service, make restitution, and undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow any recommendations.
34 year old Joseph S. Barnes, charged with sale of a schedule II controlled substance, was granted pre-trial diversion probation for a period of two years. He must perform 100 hours of community service, make restitution, and undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow any recommendations
Judge Patterson revoked the probation of Michelle Byars and she must serve the balance of a two year sentence against her. According to the court, she left the area without completing a drug treatment program and her whereabouts are unknown, a violation of the terms of her probation.
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