A letter from the Lowndes County School Board asking for leniency helped spare six Caledonia High School graduates from felony charges.
Lowndes County Justice Court Judge Chris Hemphill and Prosecutor Tim Hudson agreed Tuesday to reduce felony burglary charges against six teens who illegally entered CHS May 11 to trespassing, a misdemeanor. The teens, five 2010 graduates and one 2009 graduate of CHS, poured vegetable oil in hallways and placed zip-ties on lockers as a senior prank.
Hemphill said Hudson”s motion to reduce the charges was “based in great deal on the part of the Lowndes County School Board, which requested the matter be handled as a misdemeanor and not a felony.”
Superintendent Mike Halford confirmed the board voted unanimously to send a letter to the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Department stating it was satisfied with the discipline administered by the school. CHS Principal Randy Barnett demanded the students or their parents pay $104 each to cover the cost of cleaning the oil, which they did.
Kelsey Jones, Stephanie Hopper, Sunnie Rushing, Kara Von Kanel, Kori Hankins, all 18, and Patrick McIntyre, 19, each received 75 hours of community service in return for pleading to trespassing. Hudson requested 60 hours community service, but Hemphill increased the number.
Hemphill said no objections to the reduction were entered.
Schatzi Whitehead, Kori Hankins” mother, said the teens” parents were gathered Monday to meet with their attorney, Steve Wallace, who told them about the plea deal.
“It was kind of a surprise. We didn”t know (the reduction) was going to happen until the day before,” she said.
Whitehead said the teens were “surprised and relieved.”
“I really think they learned their lesson, especially with their faces getting plastered all over the news,” she added. “They didn”t expect so much publicity and it was kind of negative.”
She said Hankins will talk to her pastor about the possibility of performing her community service at church.
Hemphill warned the teens that any legal trouble prior to completing their community service could revoke the terms of the plea agreement. Otherwise, their records will be cleared.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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