Diversion granted in sexual battery case

Barry L. Cole, 61, 411 Lattawoods, was placed on supervised probation for two years and ordered to pay $548 in court costs. He also is forbidden to partake of intoxicants, must get a drug and alcohol assessment and must follow any recommendations stemming from the assessment.

Cole was secretly indicted in February.

If Cole completes the diversionary period without any problems, he may ask the court to expunge his record.

In other circuit court action on Sept. 8-9:

* Sean Carretoro, 20, 1085 Wabash, was taken off of pretrial diversion after he failed to report to his probation officer and failed to pay court costs. With his diversion terminated, Carretoro returned to circuit court, where he pleaded guilty to one count of burglary of an automobile. Two more charges of burglary of an auto were dismissed. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by a year of supervised probation.

* Juanita Lynn Hammett, 37, 715 Harrell Ave., pleaded guilty to felony failure to appear. She was accused of failing to return to jail after being terminated from a drug rehabilitation program. She was sentenced to a year in prison and was to serve that time consecutively to all of her previous sentences.

* Carl M. Hicks, 62, 638 Finley St., pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of nonsupport of a minor child. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, followed by 11 months, 29 days of supervised probation. He was told to make regular child-support payments. Hicks reportedly owed $62,835 in child-support payments, but Hicks told the judge he didn't find out he had a child until the child was 10 years old.

* Ladarious Melton, 36, 2224 St. John Ave., pleaded guilty Sept. 9 to assaulting a woman in her St. John Avenue home on April 8. He was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days in jail and will serve that sentence concurrently with a previous sentence for a probation violation. He was forbidden to contact the victim.

* Jeremy Morris, 23, 1328 Cumberland, pleaded guilty to possessing more than half an ounce of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver. A related charge of attempting to tamper with evidence was dismissed. Morris was fined $2,000 and sentenced to two years in prison. He will serve his time concurrently with a probation violation of a previous drug charge.

* Jeremiah Denton Pleasant, 21, 1809 Browning St., pleaded guilty to possessing more than half an ounce of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver. He was sentenced to two years, serving 60 days in jail and the remainder on supervised probation. He also was fined $2,000, but the fine was suspended.

* Courtney D. Turner, 19, 745 Tucker St., pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary. He was sentenced to a year in jail, followed by two years in a community corrections program. The sentence will be served consecutively to a previous sentence for a burglary at the same house. Turner was ordered to pay $250 restitution to the victim.

* Cecil Ward, 30, address unavailable, pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and TennCare fraud. On the first charge, he was sentenced to three years in a community corrections program. On the second charge, he was sentenced to one year in the community corrections program and was to serve the time concurrently. His TennCare benefits were terminated.

* Danny J. Williams, 50, 295 Scott St., pleaded guilty to burglary and selling less than a half gram of cocaine. An additional cocaine selling charge and theft of property less than $500 charge were dismissed.

Williams, who was accused of burglarizing T&B Grocery, 924 Finley St., in January, was sentenced to two years in prison. He also was ordered to pay $500 restitution to the store owner.

On the drug charge, Williams was sentenced to three years in prison, serving that time concurrently with the prior sentence. He was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $150 restitution to the Dyersburg Police narcotics unit.

A third charge of selling less than half a gram of cocaine that had been filed against Williams was dismissed in July.

Charges were not prosecuted against the following persons:

* Stephanie Michelle Childress, address unavailable, who was charged with writing a worthless check for more than $500. The district attorney's office announced that she had post-dated the check and should not have been indicted.

* Michael Shane McCullough, address unavailable, who was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, theft of property in excess of $1,000 and six counts of burglary of an automobile. The charges were dropped because of a lack of a material witness.

* Amanda Warren, 22, 400 Light St., who had been charged with felony failure to appear. She reportedly missed court because she was in the hospital with her baby, who was born prematurely. While the failure to appear charge was not prosecuted, Warren was incarcerated on a probation violation.

In addition, on Sept. 5, a jury found Chris Faulcon, 23, 408 Kist Ave., not guilty of possessing more than half a gram of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver.