Press Release from District Attorney General, Jason Lawson’s Office
A Smith County drug dealer was recently sentenced to serve 30 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for Possessing Methamphetamine with Intent to Sell or Deliver in Smith County. Judge Brody Kane handed down the sentence on March 10 due to the conviction of Ricky Bowman after a Smith County jury trial last August. The state was represented by Assistant District Attorney Jack Bare at the trial and by Assistant District Attorney Javin Cripps at the sentencing hearing. At the sentencing hearing, Judge Kane considered the facts of the case, the prior record of Bowman, the likelihood of re-offense, and previous uses of alternative sentencing which did not prevent Bowman from committing crimes again. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Kane determined that the 30-year sentence was appropriate and reasonable in relation to all of the factors considered.
“It would always be my preference that people would choose not to commit crimes, and that sentences like this would not be necessary,” said District Attorney Jason Lawson. “However, if a person chooses to break the law, and to sell this deadly substance, there are consequences to those choices,” said Lawson.
“Everyone sees the tragic results of drugs in our county. Almost everyone knows a family whose lives have been forever changed by an accidental overdose death or at least has seen a friend or family member whose life has been wrecked by drug addiction. The people selling these drugs are directly responsible for those terrible situations, which was reflected in Judge Kane’s sentence in this case,” said Lawson.
Bowman had been held in the Smith County jail prior to his trial and sentencing but was transferred to the Department of Correction immediately after the sentencing hearing.
