JACKSON – A former Jackson police officer was resentenced to 20 years in a federal prison last week for sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty 10 years ago.
United States District Judge William Barbour ruled last week that Maceo Simmons, 53, will serve a 20-year sentence for raping a young woman that he pulled over during a routine traffic stop in 1999.
Simmons’ first sentence in the case came in 2005 when Judge Barbour gave him 20 years in prison. That sentence was later reversed on appeal. In a second court ruling in 2008, and despite Simmons’ claims of being a model prisoner and a “born-again Christian,” Barbour sentenced him to life in prison. That sentence was also thrown out on appeal based on how much prison time Simmons should have received under federal guidelines and the judge’s discretion to deviate from them, The Clarion-Ledger said.
After hearing Barbour’s decision during a conference call last week, Simmons’ attorney commented on the ruling.
“We are grateful for and respect the judge’s ruling,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Kathy Nester said according to The Clarion-Ledger. “While, of course, we would have liked it to be lower, we believe the judge clearly and correctly laid out all the reasons why a life sentence is inappropriate in this case.”
An attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice disagreed.
“It was a heinous crime against this woman,” Karima Maloney reportedly said, as she and fellow attorney, Paige Fitzgerald argued that Simmons should have been resentenced to life in prison.
Judge Barbour said in his 2005 ruling that he believed 20 years in prison was sufficient for a man of Simmons’ age. Simmons was 48 at the time.
Court documents show that on Sept. 19, 1999, the victim was a passenger in a car that Simmons pulled over for running stop sign. Simmons handcuffed the 19-year old woman and placed her in the back of his patrol car. He and another officer, Thomas Catchings, then drove her to a remote and isolated area, where Simmons repeatedly raped the victim, while Catchings acted as a lookout.
The woman said she waited a year before filing a report because she was afraid.
The Clarion-Ledger said Simmons and Catchings were arrested in December 2000 and placed on administrative leave without pay. They were acquitted in a state court in 2001.
Catchings later testified against Simmons in the federal trial and Simmons was convicted on March 1, 2005, under the charge that he committed the assault while “under the color of law.”
Catchings, a Jackson motorcycle officer, who was granted immunity for testifying against Simmons, was shot to death on March 17, 2005, while trying to stop a carjacking suspect.
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