Wednesday, November 20, 2002
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Wednesday, November 20, 2002 |
Prosecutors accept guilty plea, light sentences for three to avoid retrial in tractor theft caseBy JOHN
MUNFORD
Four men charged with participating in a multi-state stolen tractor theft ring that operated in Fayette County have been released from jail after prosecutors decided not to retry a case against two of the men that ended in a mistrial in April. Three of the men Kenneth James Green of Griffin, Lewis Gilbert Shirley of Fayetteville and Larry Franklin Whitaker of Griffin have been sentenced to time served in jail and placed on probation. Prosecutors dropped charges against Bobby Leon Green of Atlanta as a condition of the plea agreement for Kenneth Green, his brother, said Fayette County District Attorney Bill McBroom. Bobby Green, however, was arrested the day after his release from jail by Albany officers on charges relating to the case, McBroom said. Kenneth Green was recently sentenced to nine years probation and time served after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit theft by taking. He also agreed to relinquish his rights to all property that was seized from his Griffin home during the investigation, including tools and household property with a combined value of $7,690, according to court documents. In April the Green brothers were tried on state racketeering and conspiracy charges. But a mistrial was declared after the Fayette jury couldn't agree on a verdict. Shirley and Whitaker, who entered guilty pleas in the case last year, had their prison sentences wiped clean Friday when they were resentenced to time served and four years on probation. Shirley and Whitaker cooperated with prosecutors and testified against the Green brothers in the first trial. But since Kenneth Green received no jail time after his guilty plea, it didn't make sense for Shirley and Whitaker to serve a harsher sentence than Green, McBroom said. "They kept their part of the bargain," McBroom said. Shirley had been sentenced to five years in prison while Whitaker was sentenced to six years in prison. If convicted of the conspiracy charges, the Greens would have faced up to 20 years in prison. The decision to accept Green's plea was made largely because of several uncooperative witnesses, McBroom said. Those witnesses had tractors and other equipment stolen from their businesses in other states and in several locations in south Georgia, McBroom said. "Those witnesses were not cooperative with us at all ... because the insurance company had already paid them for the stolen tractors," McBroom said. McBroom also said the case against the Greens was complex and difficult for a jury to comprehend.
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