Judge Curtis Collier sentenced five people Thursday in Federal Court who were part of a $1.2 million cocaine ring.
Gregory Woodget, Ulysses Bradley, Shanna Bridgeman, Lakisha Cross, and Mark Young received individual sentences from Judge Collier.
Ms. Bridgeman, who has no criminal record, was sentenced to four months in prison, followed by four months of house arrest. This will be followed by four years of supervised release.
Federal guidelines advise that Ms. Bridgeman's guilty plea to her charges would automatically put her sentence at a minimum of 10 years in jail. However, because of the safety valve clause, the guideline had been reduced to 70-87 months, and Ms. Bridgeman's criminal history points had already been adjusted down by two points.
Attorney Hallie McFadden spoke on behalf of Ms. Bridgeman, saying, "I have never seen a defendant like her. She is one of those very rare defendants who the court won't see again."
Attorney McFadden said that Ms. Bridgeman's sole motivation in the operation had been out of a sense of loyalty to childhood friend Marcus Lewis, who authorities say was one of the major dealers in the ring. Attorney McFadden insisted that Ms. Bridgeman never knew the scope of the operation nor did she ever see or touch the drugs or the money involved with the drugs. Ms. McFadden said Ms. Bridgeman did not receive any money or drugs as payment for her role in the operation, which was mainly allowing Lewis to use her home to stash both drugs and money.
Ms. Bridgeman made a statement to the court apologizing for her actions and said, "I will not make a mockery of this court. I will finish my degree. I want to be a better mother than my mother was to my sisters and me." She also stated that as soon as she found out she was pregnant, she asked Lewis to stop storing drugs and money in her home.
Judge Collier decided to adjust Ms. Bridgeman's criminal history points by lowering another two points. He spoke with the prosecution at length before doing this and said, "I wouldn't put anyone else on this indictment to receiving four points instead of two points."
After a recess in which Judge Collier spoke with Ms. Bridgeman's parole officer, he sentenced her stating, "You got hit by lightning today" and warned her that if she appears again in his courtroom she would be "hit with thunder."
The prosecution said, "Our position is that guidelines remain advisory at all phases of their application. That hasn't been tested. I find it very unlikely that we will appeal the court's decision because this is the position we have taken."
Woodget, despite a motion to follow non-guideline sentencing, was sentenced to 63 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Judge Collier denied the request to have a non-guideline sentence because Woodget has had eight encounters with the law in the last seven years.
Judge Collier said to Woodget, "Birds of a feather flock together. You need to watch who you hang around with."
Ms. Cross received 96 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Judge Collier ordered 500 hours of substance abuse treatment for her as well. Federal guidelines suggested she receive an 87-108-month term in prison.
Bradley received 70 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. Judge Collier also ordered that Bradley receive 500 hours of substance abuse treatment while incarcerated. Federal guidelines suggested that he receive 70-87 months in prison.
Young received 65 months in prison to be followed by four years of parole. Federal guidelines suggested he spend 57-71 months in prison.