Drug Defendants Sentenced in Criminal Court

Several drug defendants were sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court on Friday, February 21 after entering pleas under negotiated settlements.
Judge David Patterson presided.
47 year old Patricia Lynn Durham pled guilty to promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine and received a two year sentence, suspended to time served. She will be on probation for the balance of the sentence. She was also fined $2,000 and given 64 days of jail credit. Durham was one of five people arrested by the Sheriff’s Department on drug charges after a detective found a meth lab at Durham’s Smithville residence last summer.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 a drug detective went to Durham’s residence for a knock and talk. After receiving consent from Durham to do a search, the detective found a one liter cook bottle, a 20 ounce bottle containing a bi-layered liquid, two lithium batteries, a bag of white powder believed to be Pseudoephedrine weighing 29 grams, 12 hypodermic needles, a visine bottle containing acid, and several other items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
According to Sheriff Ray, a co-defendant with Durham, Sherry K. Malone admitted to the detective that the meth making components found belonged to her. The others were charged because they were in the same room where the items were located. Malone pled guilty on February 21 to attempted initiation of a process to manufacture meth. She received a six year sentence but was released with time served. She was fined $2,000. Malone will be on probation for the balance of her sentence. She was given jail credit of almost six months from August 7, 2013 to February 21, 2014.
45 year old Jason Ervin pled guilty to manufacturing marijuana and received a three year suspended sentence . He will be on two years of supervised probation and one year of good behavior probation. Ervin was fined $2,000. Named in a grand jury sealed indictment last year, Ervin was alleged to have knowingly manufactured a Schedule VI controlled substance by cultivating not less than ten nor more than nineteen marijuana plants on or about July 2, 2013 constituting the offense of Manufacturing Marijuana.
38 year old Stephen Jason Moore pled guilty to the manufacture of a schedule VI drug (growing marijuana). He received a three year sentence, all suspended to supervised probation. Moore was fined $2,000. His sentence is to run concurrently with another case against him in which he received probation.
28 year old William Carl Fredrick, indicted for manufacture of a schedule VI drug (growing marijuana), was approved for Judicial Diversion and given a one year suspended sentence. He was fined $2,000.
21 year old Natalie Gail Barrett pled guilty to attempted sale of a schedule I drug (Mushrooms). She was approved for Judicial Diversion and received a six year sentence, suspended to probation. Barrett was fined $2,000.
Moore, Fredrick, and Barrett were among thirty three persons named in sealed indictments handed down by a special called session of the Grand Jury in August 2013 as the result of a lengthy investigation by the Sheriff’s Department into the illegal sale of narcotics and other crimes committed in DeKalb County.
34 year old Paul Allen Willingham pled guilty to attempted possession of a schedule IV drug with intent to deliver. He received a two year sentence, all suspended but he must complete the drug court program. He was fined $2,000. Sheriff Ray said that on Friday, August 10, 2012 Willingham came to the jail to serve a weekend sentence. Upon a search of the crotch area of his underwear, officers found three cellophane wrappers with pieces of xanax and twelve whole xanax pills, which is a schedule IV drug. The case was investigated by drug detectives of the sheriff’s department.
26 year old Justin Cantrell pled guilty to delivery of a schedule II drug. He received a four year sentence to run consecutively with a violation of probation against him in another case but instead of jail, Judge Patterson furloughed Cantrell to Mission Teens. Cantrell will be placed on supervised probation upon successfully completing the program and following the recommendations. He was fined $2,000. Cantrell was given 143 days of jail credit.
46 year old Tammy Lynn Caldwell pled guilty to two counts of delivery of a schedule II drug and received a ten year sentence in each case to run concurrently with each other to serve at 45% before parole eligibility.
48 year old Ralph Pease, Jr. pled guilty to simple possession of a schedule II drug and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days but he will be on six months of supervised probation and six months of good behavior probation. He was fined $750.
39 year old Autumn White pled guilty to two counts of possession of a schedule II drug for resale. She received a four year sentence in each case all suspended to supervised probation. The two sentences are to run concurrently with each other. White was fined $2,000. She was given jail credit from February 13, 2013 to December 9, 2013.
In one of the cases, Smithville Police Chief Randy Caplinger said that White was charged on Friday, February 1, 2013 with simple possession and possession with intent to resell a schedule II controlled substance after drugs were found on her person. According to the warrant, White was placed under arrest at the police department after she was found with marijuana at Wal-Mart. After being placed in custody, White was searched by a female correctional officer at the police department and a baggie was found on her person. Authorities later noticed that Ms. White, while still in custody, appeared to be trying to recover something from her body. As officers approached her, she attempted to swallow a plastic baggie containing pills and eight small bags containing less than one gram of methamphetamine with a total weight of three grams.
37 year old Joe Nathan Jones, Jr. of Clarksville pled guilty to one count of criminal attempt to sell over .5 grams of a schedule II drug (crack cocaine) and sale of under .5 grams of a schedule II drug (crack cocaine). He received a three year sentence in each case to run concurrently with each other to serve at 30% before parole eligibility. The sentence is to run consecutively with another sentence against him. Jones was fined $4,000.
61 year old Danny Reeder, indicted for sale of a schedule IV drug, was approved for Judicial Diversion and received a two year sentence, all suspended to supervised probation. He was fined $2,000. Reeder was among twelve people named in sealed indictments on drug charges following a year long undercover investigation by the Smithville Police Department. The indictment against Reeder alleged that “On or about August 6th, 2012, Reeder did sell and deliver a Schedule IV controlled substance (Lorazepam).” Lieutenant Matt Holmes said Reeder sold ten pills to a confidential source from the parking lot of a local business.