Court roundup: Man gets two years in assault

A Winterville man will spend about two years in prison and have to pay more than $200,000 in restitution after pleading guilty Monday to a July assault that left a Greenville man with a permanent brain injury.

Danny Keith Edwards Jr., 22, of 1210 Branch Road, Winterville, pleaded guilty to assault inflicting serious bodily injury during an administrative hearing held at the Pitt County Detention Center. A charge of attempted first-degree murder was dropped by prosecutors in exchange for the guilty plea.

During the hearing, prosecutor Kimberly Robb said Edwards told police he woke up July 17 at Bobby Wayne Lewis' Tower Place apartment to discover the other man on his bedroom floor.

Edwards told police he and Lewis had been consuming alcohol, prescription drugs and were trying to buy cocaine before he passed out. When Lewis, 48, was transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital for treatment, doctors discovered he had broken facial bones and a traumatic brain injury.

Robb said Edwards later told police he and Lewis had argued and he punched the older man multiple times, even after Lewis fell to the floor.

Pitt County Superior Court Judge W. Russell “Rusty” Duke Jr. sentenced Edwards to 21-26 months, which will be served in Evergreen Rehabilitation Center in Robeson County.

Duke said Edwards will have to pay $207,200 in restitution to cover Lewis' ongoing care and pay several thousand dollars to Pitt hospital for Lewis' initial medical care.

The Edwards' case was one of several plea arrangements accepted by the court on Monday. The other arrangements included:

Jose D. Morales-Jimenez, 51, will spend five to six years in prison and face deportation to Mexico after pleading guilty to five counts of indecent liberties with a child. He was originally charged with 11 counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and 11 counts of indecent liberties with a child.

Robb said Morales-Jimenez was arrested and charged after a 9-year-old neighborhood girl told her mother he had open-mouth kissed her, fondled her genitals and made her fondle his penis on numerous occasions between August and early November 2008.

Duke sentenced Morales-Jimenez to 12-15 months in prison for each offense, to be served back-to-back. He ordered that after Morales-Jimenez completes his prison term he be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation to his native Mexico. Duke said if he isn't deported, Morales-Jimenez must register as a sex offender.

Kyle Alexander Temple, will spend three to four years in prison after pleading guilty to assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in connection with a September 2008 attack on a 70-year-old man outside a local church. He was originally charged with attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

The prosecution said the victim was monitoring the parking lot of church when someone hit the back of his head with a heavy object and ran away. Witnesses identified the assailant at Temple.

When he was taken into custody Temple, said he needed money and was trying to rob the man. The prosecution said there was no sign he tried to take money from the victim. During Monday's hearing Temple told the judge he suffers from bipolar disorder and “wasn't clear” at the time.

Because Temple had no previous criminal record Duke sentenced him to 24-38 months in prison with a recommendation of work release. Duke also ordered substance abuse treatment and recommended Temple earn his GED and take vocational training.

Linwood Akeem Crawford, 25, received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent liberities with a child after admitting he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Three counts of statutory rape were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.

Crawford said he didn't know the girl was 15 when he started dating her last fall.

Greenville police learned about the relationship when they were called to the West Fifth Street area to investigate a report of a teenage girl jumping from a car and running away.

When officers arrived they learned the teenager was Crawford's girlfriend and she was running away from her mother who had picked up at his house and was trying to take her home. The prosecution said the girl's family has sent her to live in a group home.

“He is here accepting responsibility for his action but I want to make it clear this is not a predatory situation,” defense attorney Michael Fox said before asking Duke to suspend the young man's sentence.

Duke agreed to suspend the 15-18 month prison sentence given on each criminal count. Instead, Crawford will be under supervised probation for 30 months, including six months of intensive probation. He'll have to complete 72 hours community service.

Duke said Crawford can't co-habitat with any female other than his mother. He'll have to register as a sex offender for 30 years but he'll be able to petition for release after 10 years.

A man indicted on 23 counts of breaking and entering coin-operated machines pleaded guilty to four counts of the charge and will spent between 16-20 months in prison. Ronald Wayne Hogge, 39, also will serve 24 months of probation and pay $9,791 in restitution for the damaged machines.