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Two men sentenced in Tenneco thefts
Jones receives forgery verdict
Cripps
CRIPPS
Two local men charged with taking property from a Tenneco warehouse almost two years ago were both sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Friday.Judge David Patterson sentenced Tracy Lynn Haynes, 41, and 36-year-old Melvin Leon Cripps, Jr. to a four-year sentence suspended to probation each after they both pled guilty to one count of theft over $1,000.The two men were ordered to jointly pay $50,000 in restitution to Tenneco.The two men will be on unsupervised probation once the restitution is paid.Haynes' sentence will run concurrently with his current probation in a separate case.According to city police, welding equipment and power supplies were stolen from the Tenneco warehouse in Smithville sometime around Jan. 9, 2010. A few days later, Tenneco maintenance manager Johnny Pridmore told city police that some of the stolen items might be found at a salvage yard in another county.Pridmore reportedly went to the salvage yard and found some of the equipment belonging to Tenneco there.On the same day, Jan. 11, 2010, Pridmore returned to the Tenneco manufacturing facility to find a truck and trailer at the warehouse.The trailer was loaded with two items belonging to Tenneco.Pridmore approached the two men in the truck, asking them who they were and what they were doing.The driver told him that his name was Melvin Cripps.While Pridmore called the police, the two men unloaded the trailer and left the premises.Cripps and Haynes were later arrested for the crime.Meanwhile, a former employee of Potters Home Center in Smithville has been granted judicial diversion probation for two years on charges of forgery and felony theft over $1,000.Jason Brian Jones, 32, was charged in a scheme to steal money from the home center on several occasions from June 7 through July 30 by circumventing the business’ policy on returning merchandise.Jones entered into the plea agreement by information.He must pay restitution of $8,100 and complete a drug rehabilitation program at New Life Ministries in Arkansas.City police say that Jones forged names on return slips, then wrote a check from the store for the returns to the names he had forged.He then forged the names on the backs of those checks, cashed them in the store, and pocketed the money.Wesley J. Hayes, 19, was granted judicial diversion probation for three years on charges he attempted to initiate the manufacture of methamphetamine.He must perform 50 hours of community service.Hayes was arrested with 30-year-old Scott B. Carroll, Jr. and Francisco Bustamonte, 20, on Jan. 23 on The Loop Circle in the Midway community.Carroll and Bustamonte were sentenced in the case last month.Carroll was sentenced to 30 years as a career criminal, while Bustamonte received an 11-year sentence to run consecutively with a six-year term in a similar Cannon County case.In other criminal court cases last week, 29-year-old William Travis Malone pled guilty to sale of a Schedule II controlled substance, receiving a four-year sentence suspended to 65 days already served.The remainder of Malone’s sentence is to be served on community corrections.He was fined $2,000 and must pay $50 restitution to the Smithville Police Department. Malone was charged in a sealed indictment, the result of an undercover drug investigation by the Smithville Police Department.City police say that a confidential department source bought two pills which proved to be Dilaudid from Malone at a location within 1,000 feet of Smithville Elementary School on Feb. 23.Danny Ponder, 50, pled guilty to sale of a Schedule II controlled substance and received a four-year sentence in community corrections.Ponder was fined $2,000 and must make $50 restitution to the Smithville Police Department.He must also undergo an alcohol and drug assessment.Ponder was also charged in a sealed indictment as the result of an undercover investigation.City police say that a confidential source purchased two pills, found to be Dilaudid, from Ponder at a location within 1,000 feet of Smithville Elementary School on Feb. 23.Stephanie Ann Fagan, 29, pled guilty to attempted aggravated child abuse and received a five-year sentence, all suspended to probation, with the first four years to be supervised by community corrections.She was fined $2,000.Fagan was charged with aggravated child abuse in January after being accused of allowing her 12-year-old daughter to smoke marijuana.Janet Mayo, 39, pled guilty to simple possession of a Schedule II and Schedule VI controlled substance.She received a sentence of 11 months, 29 days supervised probation on both charges, to run concurrently.She was fined $1,000.Mayo was arrested on Jan. 9, when Smithville Police Officer James Cornelius found her to be in possession of marijuana and methamphetamine.Rhonda Brewer, 45, pled guilty to introduction of contraband into a penal institution.She received a three-year sentence, all suspended to supervised probation, was given jail credit of 104 days and fined $2,000.The sentence is to run concurrently with her General Sessions Court probation.According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, Brewer reported to the jail on a violation of probation on May 19, where a coffee filter containing methamphetamine was found in her bra.Melinda Murphy, 26, pled guilty to two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and one count of theft under $500.She was sentenced to one year state probation in one fraud case, 11 months, 29 days probation in the other, and 11 months, 29 days probation in the matter of the theft.The three sentences are to run concurrently with each other but consecutive to a General Sessions Court sentence.She must pay $985 restitution and make a $200 contribution to the economic crime fund.Charlie Chad Barnes, 25, pled guilty to initiation of a process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamine.He was sentenced to eight years to be served at 30 percent.He was fined $2,000, and was given jail credit for 33 days.Terry Ray Barnes, 23, pled guilty to attempted initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine.He received a sentence of four years to serve at 30 percent.He was fined $2,000 and given jail credit for 264 days.The sentence is to run concurrently with a Van Buren County sentence he is currently serving.Jerry H. Goff, 33, pled guilty to sale of a Schedule VI controlled substance and received a two-year sentence on state probation.Goff was fined $2,000, and he must undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow all recommendations.Matthew Baker, 29, pled guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license.Baker was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days on probation on both charges.The sentences are to run concurrently.30-year-old Nena Chapman, charged with theft over $10,000, was granted judicial diversion probation for three years.She must pay restitution of $3,758 jointly and severally with another defendant, Joseph Daniel Richardson, 30.Clay Andrew Bain, 19, pled guilty to simple possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, evading arrest, and unlawful possession of a weapon.He received a sentence of 11 months, 29 days on the charges of possession and evading, and 30 days on the weapons charge.He will be on supervised probation, and must pay a fine of $250.Ray D. Underwood, 20, pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and was released on time served.He was given jail credit of 207 days.Tobin Lane Hamnett, 42, pled guilty by information to reckless driving, and was sentenced to six months, suspended to supervised probation.He was fined $1,000.James L. Owen, 36, was granted judicial diversion for three years on charges of promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine.He must perform 50 hours of community service.Lois Nicole Cobble Godsey, 25, charged with child abuse and neglect, was granted judicial diversion probation for two years.Antonio Wilford, 25, pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon.He received a four-year sentence, all suspended to supervised probation.It will run concurrently with a probation case in General Sessions Court and a case in Putnam County.Sebrena Michelle Wright, 26, pled guilty by information to simple possession of Oxycontin and Suboxone, and was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days in both cases, suspended to probation.The two sentences are to run consecutively.She was fined $750.David Graham, 20, charged with child neglect, was granted judicial diversion probation for two years.He is ordered to complete accredited parenting classes.Terry Lee Price, 50, pled guilty to two counts of sale of a Schedule II controlled substance.Price was sentenced to a three-year term in each case, suspended to supervised probation.The sentences are to run consecutively.Price was given jail credit for 64 days, and was fined $2,000.Tina Young, 40, pled guilty by information to theft over $500, and was sentenced to one year on supervised probation.The sentence is to run concurrently with her probation in another case.Kenny Stults, 52, pled guilty to two counts of theft over $1,000.He was sentenced to two years in each case at 30 percent as a standard range-one offender, all suspended to probation.The two sentences are to run concurrently with each other and with a Putnam County case.