A busy day for plea bargaining in Eighth Judicial District Court Thursday resulted in five agreements to sentencing in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice:
Damiane Cunning, 22, of Arkansas agreed to two years in TDCJ for Tampering with Physical Evidence. In the agreement a charge of Bribery was dismissed. Cunning was a passenger in an auto stopped at the 132-mile marker on I-30 Eastbound. The driver of the auto had called 911 when she became afraid of Cunning. When the deputy arrived, the driver stated that Cunning had hit her multiple times at their hotel and also while traveling the roadway in Greenville. She had stopped the auto out of fear. She also told the officer that Cunning had thrown a “joint” into the ditch prior to the arrival of the officer. A field sobriety test showed Cunning to be intoxicated and a danger to himself and others. A $20 bill in his billfold just added to his problems when he offered the bill to a Hopkins County Deputy in exchange for not charging him with several offenses committed. On the way to jail, the deputy noted Cunning reaching into his pants and putting something in his mouth. Told to spit out what he had placed in his mouth, Cunning spit out a key. A little later on the way to jail, the deputy notice Cunning again putting something in his mouth, this time it was a plastic baggie of suspected marijuana. When Cunning was placed in jail and the officer returned to his patrol vehicle, another baggie of suspected marijuana was found in the patrol vehicle back seat.
Everett Brown, Jr. was sentenced to 16 years in TDCJ. Brown, 43, was one of two arrested in a traffic stop with methamphetamine found in the center console of the vehicle. In a cigarette box in the console were two baggies of methamphetamine and syringes. He was in Possession of less than 4-grams of meth.
David Jason Neagle was sentenced to 15 years each Evade Arrest Detention with Vehicle with Previous Conviction and Tamper Fabricate Physiical Evidence with Intent to Impair. He will serve the two sentences concurrently.
Dayton Hargett pled to 10 years in TDCJ for Engage in Organized Criminal Activity and Burglary of Habitation. Hargett, 29, of Hughes Springs was one of four arrested for the burglary of Weaver Baptist Church and a residence on CR 3600.
The fifth plea was Barney Ebey who escaped from a Hopkins County inmate work group but was located 12 hours later in Athens. He received 50 years for the escape and Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity.
