I'm posting this on the San Antonio MMM board
as an example of the lax penalties inflicted on these people: "They could have received up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The drug charges will be dropped under the plea agreements, and the defendants will face prison terms of six to 12 months and fines of $2,000 to $20,000 . . ."
And the MMM sheep march for mandatory trigger locks.
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/kayla5_20000505.htm
Guilty pleas set in Kayla killing
3 men possessed gun used by 6-year-old shooter
May 5, 2000
BY BRIAN MURPHY, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
FLINT -- Three men charged with possessing the stolen gun used in the fatal shooting of first-grader Kayla Rolland have agreed to plead guilty to federal firearms violations, authorities said Thursday.
In exchange for the pleas, federal prosecutors will dismiss other charges against Jamelle James, Robert Lee Morris III and Sir Marcus Winfrey, the uncle of the 6-year-old boy who shot Kayla, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Haviland said.
The agreements, which were negotiated between the defendants' attorneys and prosecutors, came a day after the boy's mother, Tamarla Owens, admitted to neglecting her son by placing him with Winfrey in an unfit home. She agreed Wednesday to court supervision to reclaim custody.
The federal pleas are expected to be entered when James, Morris and Winfrey appear before U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola in Flint over the next two weeks.
Before reaching deals, each man faced federal charges of possessing stolen firearms while being marijuana users. They could have received up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The drug charges will be dropped under the plea agreements, and the defendants will face prison terms of six to 12 months and fines of $2,000 to $20,000, U.S. District Court records show. They are to be sentenced by Gadola in August.
More important to Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch, though, is that the agreements require Winfrey, 22, and Morris, 19, to cooperate with Busch in a case he is building against James in state court.
James, 19, who lived with Winfrey and the boy in Mt. Morris Township, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in Genesee County Circuit Court for playing with the handgun in front of the boy and leaving it loaded in a place where the boy could easily find it, authorities said.
The boy testified at James' preliminary examination in March that he found the .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol in a shoe box in James' room and hid it in a bathroom the night before the Feb. 29 shooting at Buell Elementary School.
Morris had sold the pistol to James for $80 in December, according to court testimony.
Busch, whose case against James now relies on potentially shaky recollections of the 6-year-old shooter, said Winfrey can bolster the charge that James acted recklessly and negligently with the gun in front of his nephew.
"Winfrey has been very helpful in establishing what the conditions were like in that home. I expect him to remain cooperative," Busch said Thursday.
Lawyers for the defendants could not be reached Thursday.
James and Winfrey are being held in the Genesee County Jail. Morris is being kept under house arrest. Haviland said the sentences are not binding, adding that Gadola would ultimately decide how to levy federal penalties against the trio. But Haviland and Busch said Winfrey and Morris could benefit by cooperating in the case against James.
"The judge could certainly take that into account," Haviland said.
copyright 2000 Detroit Free Press
Contact BRIAN MURPHY at 248-586-2611 or murphy@freepress.com.
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
as an example of the lax penalties inflicted on these people: "They could have received up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The drug charges will be dropped under the plea agreements, and the defendants will face prison terms of six to 12 months and fines of $2,000 to $20,000 . . ."
And the MMM sheep march for mandatory trigger locks.
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/kayla5_20000505.htm
Guilty pleas set in Kayla killing
3 men possessed gun used by 6-year-old shooter
May 5, 2000
BY BRIAN MURPHY, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
FLINT -- Three men charged with possessing the stolen gun used in the fatal shooting of first-grader Kayla Rolland have agreed to plead guilty to federal firearms violations, authorities said Thursday.
In exchange for the pleas, federal prosecutors will dismiss other charges against Jamelle James, Robert Lee Morris III and Sir Marcus Winfrey, the uncle of the 6-year-old boy who shot Kayla, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Haviland said.
The agreements, which were negotiated between the defendants' attorneys and prosecutors, came a day after the boy's mother, Tamarla Owens, admitted to neglecting her son by placing him with Winfrey in an unfit home. She agreed Wednesday to court supervision to reclaim custody.
The federal pleas are expected to be entered when James, Morris and Winfrey appear before U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola in Flint over the next two weeks.
Before reaching deals, each man faced federal charges of possessing stolen firearms while being marijuana users. They could have received up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The drug charges will be dropped under the plea agreements, and the defendants will face prison terms of six to 12 months and fines of $2,000 to $20,000, U.S. District Court records show. They are to be sentenced by Gadola in August.
More important to Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch, though, is that the agreements require Winfrey, 22, and Morris, 19, to cooperate with Busch in a case he is building against James in state court.
James, 19, who lived with Winfrey and the boy in Mt. Morris Township, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in Genesee County Circuit Court for playing with the handgun in front of the boy and leaving it loaded in a place where the boy could easily find it, authorities said.
The boy testified at James' preliminary examination in March that he found the .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol in a shoe box in James' room and hid it in a bathroom the night before the Feb. 29 shooting at Buell Elementary School.
Morris had sold the pistol to James for $80 in December, according to court testimony.
Busch, whose case against James now relies on potentially shaky recollections of the 6-year-old shooter, said Winfrey can bolster the charge that James acted recklessly and negligently with the gun in front of his nephew.
"Winfrey has been very helpful in establishing what the conditions were like in that home. I expect him to remain cooperative," Busch said Thursday.
Lawyers for the defendants could not be reached Thursday.
James and Winfrey are being held in the Genesee County Jail. Morris is being kept under house arrest. Haviland said the sentences are not binding, adding that Gadola would ultimately decide how to levy federal penalties against the trio. But Haviland and Busch said Winfrey and Morris could benefit by cooperating in the case against James.
"The judge could certainly take that into account," Haviland said.
copyright 2000 Detroit Free Press
Contact BRIAN MURPHY at 248-586-2611 or murphy@freepress.com.
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.