Thirteen people came before Cocke County Circuit Judge Rex Henry Ogle this week to enter into negotiated plea agreements and resolve criminal cases against them
Judge Ogle accepted 11 plea-bargains during a day-long session of criminal court on Monday and two more cases were resolved on Tuesday. The single case which had been set for a jury trial was re-solved on Tuesday morning when the defendant decided to plead guilty.
"You've been given an opportunity here, and I hope you make the most of it," Judge Ogle told a Jefferson County man who was re-leased on time served on Monday in connection with a Cosby home break-in.
Timothy Scott Stewart, 21, of Jersey Way, Dandridge, entered a guilty plea before Judge Ogle on May 30 to charges of attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in connection with the October 10, 2007, burglary of the Robert Evans home at 2766 Cosby Highway, Cosby.
A co-defendant, Jamie Lee Carr, 19, of Edwina/Bridgeport Road, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II on May 14 and ordered to serve five years of an eight-year state prison term with the balance on supervised probation.
Stewart was sentenced to five years for attempted aggravated rob-bery and to a concurrent term of five years for aggravated burglary. After the sentencing hearing this week, he was ordered released on time served in the Cocke County Jail, with the balance on supervised probation, under the terms of the plea-bargain. The negotiated plea also requires Stewart to obtain a general educational development (GED) certificate or high school diploma and to maintain full-time employment.
Carr suffered a shattered elbow inside the Evans home when Evans fired several shots from a handgun at intruders he discovered inside his residence about 2:30 a.m. last October 10.
Evans testified during Carr's sentencing hearing that he and his wife were awakened by noise inside their house about 2:30 a.m. on the day of the incident. Evans armed himself with a handgun and found two people inside the living room of his home. The intruders had apparently entered by breaking out a window of the residence.
Evans said he fired four shots in the dark at the intruders, and one of the bullets struck Carr in the elbow. The men then fled from the residence, leaving a bloody floor and a broken window, Evans testified.
Carr was arrested in connection with the break-in after he sought treatment for his injuries at Baptist Hospital of Cocke County.

Plea in cocaine case
Walter Lee Allen had been scheduled to face a criminal court jury on Tuesday, but opted instead to accept a negotiated plea with state prosecutors. Under the terms of the plea-bargain, Allen received a 12-year sentence in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC).
Allen pled guilty to two counts of sale of more than a half-gram of cocaine in indictments returned by the Cocke County Grand Jury and to a third count of sale of cocaine in an indictment from Jefferson County.
Assistant District Attorney General Amanda Inman told Judge Ogle that a charge of simple possession of marijuana was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Allen was sentenced to concur-rent terms of 12 years in TDOC custody on each of the cocaine charges. The sentences in the local cases will also be served concurrently with a 12-year sentence on a plea to a charge of sale of cocaine in Jefferson County criminal court, under the terms of the plea agreement.
Allen has several previous convictions, and Judge Ogle observed that most of those crimes occurred before 1999. And although his previous record will require that Allen serve at least 35 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole, the judge advised him to avoid violations of the law after his release.
"There is something about you that makes me believe that you can do something with your life," Judge Ogle told Allen. "You can make a difference with your life and I believe you can do that."

Reed gets 16 years
James Lee Reed, 34, of Alex Street, received a total of 16 years in TDOC custody after entering guilty pleas to a package of criminal offenses on Monday.
Reed pled guilty to theft of property valued at more than $10,000, felony evading arrest, second-offense driving under the influence (DUI), driving on a revoked license, violation of the state implied consent law, aggravated assault, domestic assault, and felony jail escape.
As part of the plea-bargain, charges of violation of the state open alcoholic beverage container law, aggravated child abuse and neglect, and another charge were dismissed.
Classified as a "career offender" because of his previous criminal record, Reed will be required to serve at least 45 percent of the 16-year sentence before becoming eli-gible for parole.
According to the indictments in the case, Reed and two other Cocke County Jail inmates are accused of assaulting three local jailers during an escape attempt in April 2007. Reed is charged with assaulting Jailer Lisa Owings during the incident.
Reed is also charged with theft of property valued at more than $10,000 in connection with the theft of a 2002 Chevrolet truck owned by Phillip Morgan on November 5, 2006, an incident to which the remaining charges are related.

8 years for local robbery
Miranda LeShea Seay, 20, of Lonesome Pine Road, Bybee, pled guilty on Monday to an indictment accusing her of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to eight years in TDOC custody.
Seay is charged with the theft, at gunpoint, of business receipts be-longing to the Newport Pizza Hut in January.
Inman said Seay, wearing a red shirt and a mask and brandishing a handgun, is alleged to have approached Pizza Hut employees who were making an after-hours deposit on January 20 at U.S. Bank and to have taken five bank bags containing about $2,629 from employee Tina Ocampo, of 1294 Bright Star Road.
Seay is alleged to have fled with the money from the business' deposit and was arrested by Newport police officers on Mims Avenue. The bank bags, mask, and other evidence were found inside her vehicle, Newport police reported.
Inman said the defendant was identified by the Pizza Hut assistant manager.
Seay agreed to the plea-bargain and a sentencing hearing will be held on January 5, when Judge Ogle will determine details about how the sentence will be served.

Tried to steal computer
A woman who is accused of trying to walk out of the Newport Wal-Mart with a Dell personal computer in February was ordered Monday to serve 15 days of a two-year jail sentence.
Natalia Lashea Stewart-Staffen was stopped by Wal-Mart security officers trying to take the computer last February 6. Prosecutor Inman told the court that Stewart-Staffen produced a receipt for the merchandise, but it was determined to be for a computer purchased by another person a few days earlier.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant will serve 15 days in the Cocke County Jail with the balance of a two-year term to be served on supervised probation. She was also ordered to pay $398 in restitution to Wal-Mart and to have no contact with the local store.
The local sentence will be served consecutively to a case in Sevier County when Stewart-Staffen was granted a deferred plea, Inman said.

$7,350 bad check charge
Judge Ogle also granted three years of supervised judicial diversion to Mike McMillan, who pled guilty to passing a single check for $7,350 on the account of McMillan's Jewelry and Gifts at 311 East Broadway on December 27.
The plea agreement calls for a two-year sentence on the worthless check charge and a consecutive one-year term on a charge of failure to appear in general sessions court. The entire three-year sentence will be served on judicial diversion, meaning that McMillan may return to court and ask that his record be cleared after three years of complying with the terms of probation supervision.
He was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $7,350 to the local business.

Pleads to drug charge
In a plea-bargain on Monday, Brian Russell Webb, who had been facing an indictment accusing him of possession of cocaine with intent to sell and deliver, pled guilty to a reduced charge of simple possession of marijuana.
He will serve a term of 11 months, 29 days on supervised probation, under the terms of the negotiated plea.
District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn told the court that police dis-covered a small amount of crack cocaine in plain sight when they responded to a disturbance call at Webb's residence off Leaf Way. Webb was also fined $250 plus court costs under the terms of the plea agreement.
Patrick Moriarity will serve a jail sentence of four days less than two years after entering guilty pleas to a series of misdemeanor charges on Monday.
Moriarity pled guilty to two counts of simple possession of marijuana; violation of the Tennessee vehicle headlight law; two counts of driving on a suspended, cancelled, or revoked license; and violation of the state vehicle head-light law.
Two 11-month, 29-day jail sentences were ordered served concurrently, along with concurrent terms of six months on some of the misdemeanor counts and fines totaling $810 on all counts, under the terms of the plea-bargain.
Moriarity will serve a full 20 days in the Cocke County Jail, with the balance of the term on super-vised probation.