Man Is Jailed for Animal Cruelty

A guilty verdict was found against Gary Champion of Monticello last Friday on the charges of inadequate veterinary care/shelter/ food and water, and failure to get inoculation for rabies of six dogs.

After hearing testimony from a veterinarian and an attendant at the Jasper County Animal Shelter, Chief Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Jackson, presiding, sentenced Mr. Champion to one year with 45 days to serve, 100 hours of community service, a $500 fine and restitution to the county and the veterinary clinic.

Several other cases on the Magistrate Criminal Trial Calendar resulted in the following:

•Christopher Thomas was found guilty of disorderly conduct and failure to appear, and was sentenced to 48 hours in jail with credit for time served.

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•Kendra L. James was found guilty of deposit account fraud (two counts) and was sentenced to 12 months probation and ordered to pay restitution and cost of court.

•Porsche S. Epps failed to appear to answer a charge of deposit account fraud and a Bench Warrant was issued for her arrest.

•Rodney Andrew Snow pled guilty to possession of marijuana less than one ounce and was sentenced to 12 months probation, 50 hours of community service, 10 days jail (waived) and a fine of $985.

•Six other cases on the Civil Trail calendar were also processed.

In addition, Jasper Superior Court convened January 28 with Judge William A. Prior, Jr., presiding, and two probation violation cases were processed:

•Curtis Lee Ross was found to have violated his probation via the new charges failure to report and failure to pay court ordered fines and fees. Mr. Ross was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail suspended upon entry into a probation detention center for 120-180 days, and upon release be returned to regular probation supervision.

•William Joseph Martin was found to have violated his probation via the new charges of burglary in the first degree. Mr Martin was sentenced to spend the remainder of his sentence in the state penal system with a release date of June 22, 2017.

Also, five other non-criminal cases were processed, including a settlement of the Department of Transportation versus several property owners, businesses and their representative, concerning the road widening project in the city.