Two Enter Guilty Pleas in Circuit Court

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Two persons entered guilty pleas to the charges against them Friday in Cannon County Circuit Court, presided over by Judge Don R. Ash.

In one case, Timothy Ryan Lawson pled guilty to one count of theft over $500 and five counts of forgery. On the theft charge he was sentence to two years in the state penitentiary as a Range 1, 30 percent offender. That sentence was suspended and he was placed on community corrections. On the forgery charges Lawson was sentenced to one year in the state penitentiary on each count. Those sentences will run concurrent to the theft sentence. He also received a suspended sentence on the forgery counts and was placed on community corrections. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim.

In another case, Crystal Brannam pled guilty to criminal attempt to initiate the manufacture of methamphetamine. She was sentenced to four years in prison as a Range 1, 30 percent offender and was placed on community corrections in lieu of serving prison time. She was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and court costs. Brannam also pled guilty to one count of driving on a revoked license. She was given a six month suspended sentence and ordered to pay a $50 fine.

Also Friday Judge Ash:

• Denied a motion for jail credit made by Lisa Pyles.

• Denied a petition for sentence modification by Ravi Goin. He must serve the 47 days remaining on his sentence.

• Continued until April 8 a revocation / capias hearing for Angela Trisler.

• Denied John McPeak's request for a suspended sentence and instead furloughed him to a halfway house. His next court date is April 8.

• Denied Tammie Thompson's motion for a suspended sentenced. Thompson has a parole hearing scheduled for Feb. 22. If she is not paroled at that time, Judge Ash will reconsider her motion on March 11.

• Appointed Elisha Jennings an attorney and rescheduled his revocation hearing on a charge of violation of probation for Feb. 11.

• Granted Randy Durham's petition to travel.

• Took no action on Allison Church's motion for consecutive / concurrent jail time.
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CANNON COMMUNITY
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Members Opinions:
January 14, 2011 at 7:44pm
Why do these repeat offenders keep getting community service and probation?!
January 16, 2011 at 3:20am
I agree with you tngram, they give them community service and probation and they just keep doing it over and over they will not learn the lesson with this
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January 16, 2011 at 8:10am
I didn't see anything about community service in this article.
January 16, 2011 at 10:44am
So what is community corrections? Are they released or are they in jail? I see that one repeat offender was sentenced to a total of 7 years in the state penitentiary and that was suspended for community corrections. I'm a prior victim so would really like to know.
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January 16, 2011 at 10:57am
Community corrections is basically a local probation and parole program for offenders who if jailed or in jail would be sent to the state prison, and is generally used for non-violent defenders. It is my understanding they report and are check on more frequently than those on local jail probation.
January 16, 2011 at 11:05am
Thanks Kevin. It's all confusing. So it sounds like he is out of jail, but checked on more frequently? I'm wondering how these repeat offenders ever learn anything if they don't seem to ever serve any hard time in jail.
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January 16, 2011 at 11:20am
I can only give my observation. A person has to screw up many times, perhaps three to four, before they do any hard time in jail. Of course, it offend depends on the severity of the offense. The system seems to lean more toward keeping people out of jail than putting them in it. I think that has to do with numbers, cost and, again, severity of offense. Many charges are also dropped for a variety of reason, such as victims not wanting to go through with prosecution or plea arrangements. People are fond of pontificating that it's not a perfect system, and it's not, but from my observation it works well for the most part. I think people interested in the process should spend a few days observing general session or circuit courts before coming to any definitive conclusions.
January 16, 2011 at 11:48am
It seems to us that the system works well for the offenders and not so much for the victims (past or future). It must go beyond 3 or 4 screw ups in this case. We have observed our local courts and seen the same thing..probation, probation, probation. Maybe someday the system will be fixed around here and the crime might go down some.
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January 17, 2011 at 8:04am
http://www.tn.gov/bopp/bopp_fs_comm_corr.htm

It tells about community corrections. From reading it it appears this is a last chance type thing. If the person messes this up it's off to jail.
January 17, 2011 at 5:09pm
I fail to see where we save any real money by not putting people in jail. Most of the offenders are on TennCare, receive EBT cards, and other social welfare benefits. If they're in jail, we pay for their housing, food, health care, and other things. What's the difference in the money? The law abiding citizens still foot the bill, but with criminals in jail, they can't victimize us.
January 19, 2011 at 11:17am
LET THEM WORK FOR AND KEEP THEMSELVES UP. HIRE THEM OUT FOR MANUAL LABOR WITH A .12 GUAGE POINTED AT THEIR BACKS. IF THEY WORK....THEY EAT.....IF THEY DON'T THEN THEY MADE THEIR OWN CHOICE. NO ONE FEEDS ME AND MY FAMILY. I WORK SO WE CAN EAT AND LIVE SO WHY DONT THEY?
January 19, 2011 at 1:10pm
Why should these repeat offenders work? They just keep stealing from everyone. They pretty much know that when they get caught they will get probation and then they have another chance to steal again. And the cycle goes on.
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