News Briefs From Across The State
Also gets probation for three years
A 29-year-old Gulfport man has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison on a guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon. The Sun Herald reported that U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. sentenced William Lewis Croff on Tuesday and ordered him to forfeit a .45-caliber pistol.
Gulfport police arrested him in a traffic stop on July 12, 2010. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation, which led to a federal indictment.
Croff pleaded guilty June 1. Once he’s out of prison, he will be on supervised release for three years.
Ex-coach pleads guilty in Vicksburg bank robbery
A former assistant football coach at a private school in Warren County has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing a Vicksburg bank.
The Vicksburg Post reported that Derrick Collins, 45, of Vicksburg, pleaded guilty Monday to bank robbery and eluding law enforcement.
Authorities said Collins led officers on a high-speed chase after the Dec. 14 robbery of Britton & Koontz Bank, and the officers disabled his car with tire spike strips. About $3,100 was found in his vehicle after he was arrested.
For about a year before his arrest, Collins was a part-time football and basketball coach at Porters Chapel Academy. He initially was charged with armed robbery, punishable by 20 years, but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of robbery.
Collins was wearing a mask and threatened to shoot a bank teller but didn’t have a weapon, said District Attorney Ricky Smith.
“In certain cases a defendant can be convicted of armed robbery if they do not actually have a weapon, but it is more difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” Smith said.
Deputies recovered a mask along the route of the chase, and DNA on the mask matched Collins’ DNA, Smith said.
Collins had remained in jail since his arrest, not posting the $250,000 bond that was set. He is being sent to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility for assignment to a state prison, Smith said.
Four teens charged in detention center escape
The Pascagoula Police Department has charged four juveniles who tried to escape from the Jackson County Youth Detention Center in July. Victor Otempong, 16, Calip Johnson, 16, Christopher Kutterhoff, 16, and Jamal Williams, 15, are being charged as adults for kidnapping and armed robbery during the commission of the foiled escape.
Just after 9:30 p.m. on July 6, authorities received a report that a “Take Over” style escape was occurring at the facility.
At least three intake personnel employees were overpowered and held captive inside the complex while six juveniles tried to escape. Two detention officers were injured during the incident.
All four have been transferred from the youth detention center to the Pascagoula Municipal jail.
South Delta Planning and Development District gets $162k
Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said The United States Department of Commerce has awarded South Delta Planning and Development District an investment award in the amount of $162,500.
This EDA investment supports the development and implementation of a comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) in the region served by the South Delta Planning and Development District which comprises Bolivar, Humphreys, Issaquena, Sharkey, Sunflower and Washington counties.
The CEDS process is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy.
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