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07-17-2006, 04:19 PM
PRESTONSBURG - The grandson of a convicted drug trafficker entered an open plea to charges in the same case Friday in circuit court and was ordered to serve five years in jail with an additional five years of probation.
Michael Whitaker, of Hueysville, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in hydrocodone and two charges of selling marijuana in cases that were brought by Operation UNITE and have already seen his grandmother, Dottie Neeley, 87, enter a guilty plea. Neeley entered her plea on March 10 and had received media coverage that created sympathy for her and painted her as a woman on a fixed income who sold drugs in order to have food. Those images were dismissed at her sentencing when Judge John D. Caudill labeled those reports as "a bunch of crap." He went on to note that Neeley never had a prescription for marijuana and said, "The public needs to know what kind of person you are. You're a convicted felon."
Whitaker's public defender appeared to be on the same page as Caudill was in March and said her client was brought up around a family that sold drugs. She followed by adding that Whitaker had never been convicted of a violent crime. She observed that he was a bystander and that he was young with a 3-year-old daughter and other commitments. She also cited health problems which include arthritis in both of Whitaker's knees and a heart murmur.
Caudill responded to the arguments after he imposed the sentence. He spoke of the dangers of drug trafficking and said, "Although he didn't go out and shoot somebody, he could have done just as much damage." He concluded by noting that no bystander gets charged for four counts of trafficking on two different occasions.
Neeley, who saw her five-year sentence probated by Judge Caudill, was not present.
http://floydcountytimes.com/articles/200...news03.txt
Michael Whitaker, of Hueysville, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in hydrocodone and two charges of selling marijuana in cases that were brought by Operation UNITE and have already seen his grandmother, Dottie Neeley, 87, enter a guilty plea. Neeley entered her plea on March 10 and had received media coverage that created sympathy for her and painted her as a woman on a fixed income who sold drugs in order to have food. Those images were dismissed at her sentencing when Judge John D. Caudill labeled those reports as "a bunch of crap." He went on to note that Neeley never had a prescription for marijuana and said, "The public needs to know what kind of person you are. You're a convicted felon."
Whitaker's public defender appeared to be on the same page as Caudill was in March and said her client was brought up around a family that sold drugs. She followed by adding that Whitaker had never been convicted of a violent crime. She observed that he was a bystander and that he was young with a 3-year-old daughter and other commitments. She also cited health problems which include arthritis in both of Whitaker's knees and a heart murmur.
Caudill responded to the arguments after he imposed the sentence. He spoke of the dangers of drug trafficking and said, "Although he didn't go out and shoot somebody, he could have done just as much damage." He concluded by noting that no bystander gets charged for four counts of trafficking on two different occasions.
Neeley, who saw her five-year sentence probated by Judge Caudill, was not present.
http://floydcountytimes.com/articles/200...news03.txt
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