Ten individuals charged with crimes in Jones County elected to decline trials before a jury Monday and enter guilty pleas before Circuit Court Judge Dal Williamson.
Judge Williamson accepted the pleas of guilt from Joseph Spells (two counts felony DUI), Carolyn Pearson (grand larceny), Holly Marie Hamby (burglary of a non-dwelling), David Troy Purvis (trafficking controlled substance), William Charles Newell (simple robbery), Carlos L. Wilson (felony shoplifting), Sedric Bass Jr. (false reporting of bomb or explosives), Jessica Herndon (felonious child abuse, two counts battery of a child), Pamela Lou Jordan (possession of a firearm by a felon), and Jeremy Riels (burglary of a non-dwelling).
Spells was charged as a habitual offender, since he had two previous convictions, and one of his two felony DUI charges this time involved him backing into a school bus carrying kids on Brown Circle on February 10, 2016. He was given two years to serve with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and fined $5,835.00.
“This court is very concerned that you are going to hurt somebody,” Judge Williamson told the 75-year-old Spells. “My worst fear is that you will run over and kill a child. If you come back again, after you do this time, you will get the maximum. You better not drink and drive any more.”
Purvis pled guilty to trafficking methamphetamine. He was arrested on October 18, 2017, on Jess Livingston Road after officers pulled him over for an expired tag and careless driving. The officers subsequently found a bag that was later determined by the Mississippi Crime Lab to contain 30 grams of methamphetamine. Other paraphernalia was also discovered in the vehicle at the time of the arrest.
Purvis was sentenced by Judge Williamson, on the recommendation of the DA’s Office, to 10 years in the state penitentiary and fined over $2,400.
“I hate to see anyone go to prison, but that’s where you belong,” said the judge.
Newell, who robbed an Exxon station of $90 on south 16th Avenue back in April of 2018, was sent to prison for seven years and fined over $2,000 for courts fees and costs.
“I’ve had to sit and live with what I did,” Newell told the court. “It has affected me deeply, and I’m truly sorry for what I did. It was a big mistake that I made.”
The judge handed Bass a five-year prison term and over $2,400 in court fines and fees, all due to a “bomb threat” he made on July 9, 2017, against the Howard Industries Delphi plant in Laurel.
Investigators were able to apprehend Bass, in part, by connecting the phone number he used to make the threatening call to a Facebook account. He made the bomb threat because he didn’t want to work on a Saturday night and hoped the call would cause the plant to shut down.
“I would like to apologize to Howard Industries and Jones County,” offered Bass.
“I don’t understand this,” stated the judge. “This appears that it was a very selfish act to make that call. We live in a time where people get killed at work. They automatically think they’re going to die (when something like this happens). You can’t do things like this. Use your head. I see you are remorseful. You probably had friends down at Howard Industries.”