At his fourth parole hearing held last Thursday at the Southeast Regional Correctional Facility in Pikeville, Gerald Wayne (J.B.) Bounds was told by State Board of Pardons and Parole member Yusuf Hakeem that he would not recommend he be released on parole due to the seriousness of the offense; that he would recommend Bounds be put off for two more years before being eligible for another hearing. However, Hakeem’s vote is only one of four needed to definitely deny Bounds of parole. Bounds has served 30 years and eight months of a life sentence for the first-degree murder of Sherman Wright which took place on Feb. 2, 1981.As in Bounds’ 2010 parole hearing, this year’s hearing was held via teleconference with the single State Board of Pardons and Parole member Hakeem conducting the session from his Chattanooga office.
Bounds could still get parole