Lacy gets 4-year sentence in jail assault cases

Published 9:29 am Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye  Anthony Lacy listens as his attorney argues before the court during a sentencing hearing.

Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye
Anthony Lacy listens as his attorney argues before the court during a sentencing hearing.

A Roan Mountain man was sentenced to a total of four years in prison Tuesday for two separate convictions related to incidents within the Carter County Detention Center.
Anthony Lacy, 20, of Roan Mountain, was sentenced during a court hearing Tuesday for convictions on aggravated assault, felony reckless endangerment, and misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
In October, Lacy was found guilty by a jury on charges of aggravated assault and misdemeanor reckless endangerment in connection with an altercation inside the jail where Lacy struck Corrections Officer Dwight Lacey several times with a mop handle. Lacy had originally been charged with attempted second degree murder but jurors found him guilty of the lesser offense of aggravated assault. The aggravated assault conviction carries a possible sentence of 3-6 years under state law while the misdemeanor reckless endangerment conviction carries a maximum sentence of 11 months, 29 days.
In November, a separate jury convicted Lacy on a charge of felony reckless endangerment in connection with a fight between Lacy and his cellmate at the time, James Buckingham. Lacy had originally been charged with aggravated assault in the case but jurors found him guilty of the lesser offense of reckless endangerment. The felony reckless endangerment conviction carries a possible sentence of 1-2 years under state law.
At the time of both of these incidents, Lacy was being held in the Detention Center awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, burglary, evading arrest and multiple counts of theft of property.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks pointed to Lacy’s criminal history as cause for increasing his sentence.
“As of today he’s been convicted of three separate felonies that occurred on separate dates,” Brooks said, adding Lacy was on probation for a felony conviction out of Avery County, N.C., at the time these incidents occurred.
Street noted that while the charges leading to the North Carolina conviction occurred when Lacy was 16 and a juvenile under state law, the nature of those offenses led North Carolina authorities to charge Lacy as an adult, which makes those convictions part of Lacy’s adult criminal record.
During his argument for lesser sentencing, Lacy’s defense attorney Patrick Denton pointed to Lacy’s young age as an indicator of immaturity and inability to make good, sound decisions. Denton suggested that if Lacy had been given more time to mature, perhaps he would not have made the choices that led to the convictions against him.
In response to that argument from Denton, Street referenced Lacy’s record as a juvenile offender in Carter County. Street said he had not intended to include those juvenile offenses but Denton’s argument opened them to being mentioned as part of Lacy’s “extensive record.”
Street then read aloud Lacy’s juvenile conviction history in Carter County as part of the official court proceedings:
• In 2014, just five days before turning 18, Lacy was charged with and later convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia and theft of property.
• In 2013, when Lacy was 16, he was charged with and later convicted of evading arrest, four counts of burglary and theft over $1,000. All of those offenses excluding evading arrest are felonies under state law.
• In 2012, when Lacy was 15, he was charged with and later convicted of joyriding.
• In 2011, when Lacy was 15, he was charged with and later convicted of aggravated assault, which is a felony under state law.
Despite his young age, Street said Lacy had acquired an extensive criminal record.
Street then sentenced Lacy to serve three years on the new aggravated assault conviction. He also sentenced him to serve 11 months, 29 days on the misdemeanor reckless endangerment conviction, which will be merged into the 3-year sentence since it involves conduct with the same victim. That sentence will run concurrent with the North Carolina sentence, which Street said was a 29-month sentence.
On the felony reckless assault conviction, Street sentenced Lacy to serve one year in prison, which will run consecutive to the sentence on the aggravated assault giving him an effective 4-year sentence in Tennessee.
Street asked Denton if he would like to address the possibility of alternative sentencing and Denton said Lacy would not be requesting probation in lieu of jail time for the conviction.
Lacy is scheduled to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, burglary, evading arrest and multiple counts of theft of property in March of 2017.

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