CLAYTON 鈥 A Jennings man accused of firing at 狐狸视频 County police during an undercover drug investigation pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Under an amended indictment filed in October 2017, Brothel George, 44, of the 9200 block of Hathaway Avenue, was charged with four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, four counts of armed criminal action, one count of drug possession, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of resisting arrest.
In a plea agreement, George pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, along with the other charges. He received 15 years in prison on each charge except for one, for which he got seven years, with all the sentences to be served concurrently.
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鈥淵our lawyers have done an excellent job for you,鈥 Circuit Judge Stanley J. Wallach said at the sentencing Friday, according to a transcript. 鈥... Had the jury found you guilty, there鈥檚 a very good chance you wouldn鈥檛 be looking at a 15-year sentence.鈥
Wallach said the plea agreement was worked out by George鈥檚 attorneys and the office of 狐狸视频 County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. 鈥淚 will go along with the deal. I鈥檓 reluctant to go along with it, but I have to assume the prosecutor knows more about the case than I do and that they have concluded for whatever reason that this is an appropriate sentence,鈥 Wallach said.
Matt Crecelius, business manager of the 狐狸视频 County Police Association, called the deal that George got 鈥渄isgusting.鈥
He said it was a bad week with the trial in the killing of Officer Blake Snyder, 鈥渁nd as we deal with that, the prosecutor gives a break to another violent criminal who tried to kill police officers,鈥 Crecelius said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely disheartening and troubling.鈥
Sam Alton, Bell鈥檚 chief of staff, said through a spokeswoman that police officers involved in the case had asked that a settlement be reached.
鈥淭here are other extenuating case-intensive facts unknown to the business manager of the 狐狸视频 County Police Association,鈥 Alton said. 鈥淲e are comfortable with the guilty plea and sentence handed down to the defendant.鈥
Joe Patterson, president of the 狐狸视频 County Police Association, said Tuesday that Alton鈥檚 claims that some of the officers involved asked for a plea deal aren鈥檛 true.
鈥淎fter speaking to each of the victim and witness officers, they were 100 percent prepared and eager to testify at trial to keep a violent and known criminal off the streets of 狐狸视频 County,鈥 he said.
County police had arranged a marijuana deal between George and a confidential informer outside of George鈥檚 home in February 2014, according to court documents.
Three officers then converged on the drug deal wearing badges and vests identifying them as police officers and tried to arrest George, when he drew a pistol from his waistband and pointed it at them. The officers then chased George on foot before George opened fire on them, according to the documents.
Officers returned fire, striking George, who was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Police said they recovered about 56 grams of marijuana and a gun from George.
George served six years in prison after a 2000 felony conviction for drug possession with intent to distribute.