By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Cherokee County District Attorney’s office released its plea agreements for the months of June and July, last week.

Among them, Stephen Oliver agreed to a plea agreement which will have him spending the next two years in prison and the next 10 years on probation for the two counts he faced for sexual assault of a child. Despite the heinousness of the crimes and the relatively short sentence agreed to in the plea agreement, District Attorney Elmer Beckworth said he was pleased to see Oliver receiving any prison time at all.

“It was a situation where an older individual committed sexual assault on a young man who was over 14 but less than 17 years of age. Cases like this, where a teenage boy is the victim, are very difficult because we often see victims who are too embarrassed to go to trial so they recant their testimony,” Beckworth said. “If that occurs, then we could face dismissal of the charges completely. In this case, the victim didn’t want to testify and did not want the perpetrator to do any time, so we were pleased to get any kind of plea deal with the defendant.”

Beckworth said Oliver’s charges stem from incidents that occurred back in November of 2005. The crimes were not reported to law enforcement until October of 2007, at which time Oliver was arrested.

A 48-year-old Jacksonville male, Oliver had no criminal record prior to these charges. Each of his two charges was a second-degree felony carrying a possible penalty of two to 10 years probation and two to 20 years in prison, Beckworth said.

“He received two years in prison on the one count and 10 years deferred probation on the other. We felt it was necessary that he get some amount of hard time in prison. I would have liked to see him get more for these offenses, but under the circumstances of this case, I was pleased by the terms of this plea agreement,” he said.

Other pleas include:

• Joann Allen, tampering with a government record. The plea agreement was for five years deferred probation;

• Oscar Balderas, deadly conduct. The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison, probated for seven years;

• John Berryhill, driving while intoxicated (third or more offense). The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison, probated for 10 years;

• Cody Birdwell, burglary of a habitation. The plea agreement was for nine years deferred probation;

• Elizabeth Birdwell, failure to appear. The plea agreement was for two years deferred probation;

• Catreba Bradford, delivery of a controlled substance. The plea agreement was for five years deferred probation;

• John Chandler, indecency with a child. The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison;

• Marilyn Colorado, injury to a child. The plea agreement was for five years in prison;

• Wilson Dillingham, burglary of a building. The plea agreement was for 25 years in prison;

• David Ebanez, aggravated assault-enhanced. The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison;

• David Ebanez, escape. The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison;

• James Fuller, driving while intoxicated (third or more offense). The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison, probated for eight years;

• Anthony Giaccone, forgery. The plea agreement was for five years deferred probation;

• Christopher Hennessy, sexual assault of a child. The plea agreement was for 15 years in prison;

• Ronald Holland, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The plea agreement was for 200 days in state jail;

• Stephanie Howell, driving while intoxicated with a child under 15. The plea agreement was for two years in prison, probated for four years;

• Ronnie Jones, assault on a public servant and evading arrest. The plea agreement was for 10 years deferred probation;

• Ronnie Jones, driving while intoxicated (third or more offense). The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison, probated for 10 years;

• Joy Lofton, tampering with a government record. The plea agreement was for five years deferred probation;

• Wali Luqman, possession of a controlled substance. The plea agreement was for 10 years in prison;

• Curtis Mack, burglary of a building. The plea agreement was for five years deferred probation;

• Joshua Miles, evading arrest with a vehicle. The plea agreement was for four years deferred probation;

• Hannah Peppers, burglary of a habitation. The plea agreement was for seven years deferred probation;

• Walter Thompson, driving while intoxicated (subsequent offense). The plea agreement was for 12 years in prison;

• Ramon Uribe, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and sexual assault. The plea agreement was for eight years in prison;

• Kevin Ward, burglary of a building. The plea agreement was for 140 days in county jail;

• Jacqueline Whitener, theft of property. The plea agreement was for 15 months in state jail;

• Gary Whiteside, forgery. The plea agreement was for 270 days in state jail;

• Gary Whiteside, burglary of a habitation. The plea agreement was for 180 days in state jail;

• Bryan Young, indecency with a child. The plea agreement was for 15 years in prison;

• Bryan Young, aggravated sexual assault of a child. The plea agreement was for 15 years in prison; and

• Tammy Young, forgery. The plea agreement was for five years deferred probation.