Gulfport man’s 60-year sentence as habitual drug offender tossed on appeal

Johnny Lee Floyd
Johnny Lee Floyd
Johnny Lee Floyd

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday threw out a 60-year sentencing given a Gulfport man for dealing drugs.

The court ordered Johnny Lee Floyd resentenced as a non-habitual offender.

Floyd was convicted in 2012 of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in a three-day trial involving a drug arrest by Gulfport police Oct. 20, 2010.

Floyd, with three prior felony drug convictions, was prosecuted as a habitual offender.

The Appeals Court agreed with Floyd’s argument that prosecutors failed to follow the statutory requirements to prove his habitual-offender status.

The court said prosecutors didn’t show that the three previous convictions during at least two separate crimes as provided by law. The court said it appeared from court records that Floyd pleaded guilty to three counts from a single incident.