By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Carter County Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Phillips accepted a guilty plea from Jason Jackson, on January 31, on a charge of abusing a corpse. She sentenced Jackson to a year in prison on the charge, at the recommendation of the Commonwealth. The crime, a Class D Felony, could have carried a penalty of up to five years, but the judge and the prosecutor agreed that it wasn’t a common crime, and that Jackson’s actions in this case weren’t those typically seen with this charge.
“We don’t see this charge very often,” Commonwealth’s attorney Brandon Ison noted, adding, “it’s not what he did, it’s what he didn’t do.”
What Jackson failed to do was report the death of his partner in a timely manner. Because of this lack of timely reporting, the family wasn’t able to hold regular funeral services and, Ison said, the “sister wanted some action.”
Judge Phillips clarified that there was no desecration of the corpse in this case, but that because Jackson failed to notify anyone of the passing in a timely manner his negligence amounted to abuse of a corpse. The judge also waived any fines or restitution in the case.
In other action closing out the month, Phillips accepted changes of plea from Sherman Henderson, sentencing him to a total of two years and one day on charges of first degree wanton endangerment, second degree disorderly conduct, menacing, and resisting arrest. Phillips sentenced Henderson to the longer sentence on the wanton endangerment charge, and 60 days each, to run concurrently with the other sentence, on the other three charges.
The Commonwealth’s attorney acknowledged that the mother didn’t want to press charges in this case, but that the Commonwealth chose to proceed given the seriousness of the charges and the defendant’s past history. Sherman has a string of arrests, stretching back to 2003, for similar charges of menacing, assault, and public intoxication.
In addition to his jail sentence, the court ordered Henderson to have no unlawful contact with his victim.
Phillips sentenced Elizabeth Moore to a total of seven years on charges of first degree trafficking in methamphetamine, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, facilitating organized crime, and tampering with physical evidence. Moore received the longest sentence on the trafficking charge, five years each on the charges of tampering with evidence and facilitating organized crime – a reduced charge from the original charge of engaging in organized crime – and one year each on the charges of endangering the welfare of a minor. Phillips ordered the charges to run concurrently, for a total sentence of seven years. Those seven years, however, were to run consecutive to her unserved time for a previous sentence which Moore was on parole for at the time of her arrest.
“There’s no excuse for profiting off the addictions of others,” Phillips said, while wishing Moore the best and hoping she would use her time to turn her life around.
Kalo Price entered a plea of guilty to charges of identity theft, third degree fleeing or evading police, and possession of drug paraphernalia, with a second drug paraphernalia charge and a charge of heroin possession dropped. Though she ultimately chose to go along with the Commonwealth’s recommendation for probation for Price, Phillips initially balked at the Commonwealth’s recommendation. The judge asked the Commonwealth how they could justify the recommendation when Price was already on probation in other cases. The Commonwealth responded that the results of the lab tests concluded there was an insufficient amount of material for prosecution, and that there had been a recommendation of rehab.
Phillips, however, noted that Price was already on probation for a case in Greenup County, as well as a case in Lawrence County. She also noted that he already had a revocation hearing in the Greenup case, but she was unable to see the results at that time.
“(These cases) in combination with an extensive criminal history would make it hard for me to accept a probation recommendation,” Phillips said.
Ison said while he didn’t disagree with Phillips, because Price was already receiving rehab on another case, the Commonwealth “wanted to give him the opportunity to clean up.”
Phillips said she would go along with probation, to run consecutively to his sentences in other counties. She warned Price that if he walked away from his rehabilitation program, he would have 15 years of prison time hanging over his head.
Alyssia Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of flagrant non-support and had her sentence diverted for a period of five years or until she pays the amount due in full. If she pays that amount before the five years are up, she can request early release from diversion.
Carter Tyler pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, operating a motor vehicle on a suspended license, and possession of a controlled substance, and was sentenced to two years each on counts one and three, and sixty days on the suspended license, running concurrently for a total sentence of two years.
Billy Jordan entered guilty pleas to charges of possession of carfentanil or fentanyl derivatives, possession of methamphetamine, prescription not in original container, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sentencing was scheduled for mid-February, but those documents have not yet been released.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
