A prisoner and his wife were sentenced in Criminal Court Tuesday, June 23 on charges of introducing contraband in a penal institution after trying to use their eight year old child to smuggle a pill into the DeKalb County Jail.
Judge David Patterson presided.
24 year old Justin Dale Estes and 30 year old Ashley Nicole Estes each received a three year sentence. Justin Estes must serve his time but a second charge of child endangerment was dismissed. The term is to run concurrently with another case against him in General Sessions Court. He was given jail credit from November 6, 2014 to June 23, 2015.
Ashley Estes’ three year sentence has been suspended to supervised probation. She was given jail credit for 76 days and fined $2,000. A second charge of child abuse/neglect against her was dropped.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on Thursday, November 6, 2014 Justin Estes, serving a sentence in the DeKalb County Jail, was visited by his wife Ashley Estes and their children. Before the visitation, a Sheriff’s Department Detective found a pill in the coat pocket of the Estes’ eight year old daughter and learned that it was placed in the coat by Mrs. Estes. According to Sheriff Ray, Justin Estes admitted that he had told his wife to put a pill in the child’s coat pocket. The pill was believed to be an eight milligram suboxone. If ingested, Sheriff Ray said the pill could have caused the child to suffer serious sickness or death. Mrs. Estes told the detective that she had previously brought drugs into the jail for her husband on different occasions by putting them in the clothing of her children, according to Sheriff Ray.
29 year old Curtis Lloyd pled guilty to possession of a schedule II drug (methamphetamine) under .5 grams. He received a four year sentence all suspended to supervised probation. Lloyd was also fined $2,000. He was given jail credit of 55 days. Sheriff Ray said that on Wednesday, October 22 a sheriff’s department detective stopped Lloyd for speeding on Highway 56 south. The officer received consent to search Lloyd’s car, a 1997 Lumina and found a baggie containing a white powdery substance still partially wet. The substance field tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 1.1 grams. Lloyd was placed under arrest.
26 year old Raymond Rollins pled guilty to domestic assault and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days all suspended to supervised probation. He was given jail credit from May 14, 2015 to June 23, 2015. Sheriff Ray said that on Sunday, June 22, 2014 a deputy received a domestic call on South Judkins Lane in the Jefferson Community. Upon arrival the officer spoke with a woman who said that Rollins had thrown her from the front porch to the ground. She claims Rollins grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall, bursting the wall. Through an investigation, the deputy found that Rollins was responsible for the assault and caused the woman to fear bodily injury. He was arrested and brought to the jail for booking.
28 year old Zackary N. Hale pled guilty to vehicular assault and reckless endangerment. He received a four year sentence for vehicular assault suspended to probation and a sentence of 11 months and 29 days suspended to probation for reckless endangerment. The two terms are to run concurrently. Hale was involved in a two vehicle personal injury crash in September 27, 2012 on Highway 56 south.
28 year old Margie Drennan pled guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days all suspended to supervised probation except for time served from November 18, 2014 to June 23, 2015.
50 year old Leslie Franklin Arnold pled guilty to a second offense of driving under the influence and received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days suspended to 45 days. He was fined $610 and will enroll in Teen Challenge. The term is to run concurrently with a Putnam County DUI case against him. Arnold was given thirty days of jail credit which includes twenty eight days treatment through Samaritan and New Leaf Recovery programs. Smithville Police said that on Tuesday, May 6 2014 Arnold was operating a motor vehicle on Highway 56 when he was observed crossing the yellow line. As the officer was making the traffic stop, Arnold sideswiped a van. A computer check revealed that Arnold’s license were revoked for DUI in Putnam County on January 30, 2014. Arnold had an odor of alcohol on his person and his speech was slurred. A half pint of Vodka and two empty beer cans were found in his vehicle. Arnold was taken to the emergency room of the hospital by DeKalb EMS.
37 year old Tara Jane Summers pled guilty by information to three counts of reckless endangerment. She received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days in each case to run consecutively for a total of almost three years. Summers will be on probation with CPS and is to maintain involvement in a mental health program. Sheriff Ray said that on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 Summers pulled up in her vehicle in front of the sheriff’s department. She signaled for one of the detectives to come to her automobile. The detective responded and saw two small children in the back floorboard of Summers’ vehicle. He also noticed that Summers held a 12 gauge shotgun in her lap. Summers told the detective that her parents had been murdered and that there were people chasing her, trying to kill her. When Summers was asked to hand over the shotgun, she refused and started pointing it out the window toward passing vehicles. The detective had to take the weapon by force. The gun was found to be loaded with three live rounds. Summers was placed under arrest.
Archived News & Obituaries