Meridian
– It's not that Billy Ray Reeves is a one-man crime wave – not
really, but the record does speak for itself.
When
he entered a guilty plea for aggravated sexual assault of a
15-year-old girl back in October of 2010, he bargained for and got a
10-year stretch of deferred adjudication, registered as a sex
offender in Jasper County, and went to work making “Sometimes $100,
sometimes $75.”
“Is
that per week?” asked District Attorney B.J. Shepherd.
“Yes,
sir.”
Earlier,
the Court listened as a probation officer handling Mr. Reeves'
community supervision said, “Looks like we've received one payment
per year.”
An
earnest young man dressed neatly in slacks, a white shirt and tie, he
meant that in three years time, the department has received three
payments.
Now
the veteran prosecutor asked, “If you were working, how come you
didn't make your probation payments?”
Billy
Ray thought about that for awhile.
He
was arrested several months ago for failure to report to the
probation office, failure to pay his fees, and failure to make
payments on his attorney's fees, as well as six other violations
central to similar issues involving the terms and conditions of his
probated sentence.
Judge
Phil Robertson agreed to allow him to admit as true to those three
allegations and forego the rest.
The
Judge had asked him earlier – before he took the witness stand in
his own behalf - if he understood it's a rare day when a District
Court allows such an arrangement.
He
said he was aware of that, and as he answered Mr. Shepherd's
questions, a picture began to emerge of his character and the type of
man he is.
“Well,
I worked in Kirbyville and that's more than ten miles from Jasper.
That was costing us a lot of money, and my step father began to get
more and more money from me.” He shrugged, looked at a spot in the
air located somewhere midway between his eyes and his knees.
When
he lived in Jasper and worked in the nearby town for $100 per week,
he was diligent about making his visits to the probation office. At
the time, he could afford to. Why, asked Mr. Shepherd?
“I
paid for drug testing. That probation officer worked with me. That
was all I had to pay.”
Now,
then, about his medication. Where does he get it?
“MH-MR,”
he said, meaning the Mental Health-Mental Retardation service of the
State of Texas.
“Lufkin,”
he answered.
“How
far is that?”
“Thirty-five
miles.”
Mr.
Shepherd determined that the medication is furnished at no cost to
him, then asked, “Do you remember when you ran out of medication?”
“No,
sir.”
If
he continued his term as a probationer, how would he be employed?
His
former boss would re-hire him.
Where
would he stay?
“I
could stay with my Grandma,” he said. “But first I would have to
ask her.”
“When
you first got in trouble as a sex offender, were you staying with
your grandmother there?”
His
grandmother lives in Laguna Park.
“Is
that in Bosque County?”
“Yes,
sir.”
Authorities
originally arrested him in Bosque County.
The
Prosecutor asked the probation officer if he had committed further
offenses?
“We
believe he has been indicted on two felony burglary charges in Jasper
County,” the man replied.
When
it came time to sum up, Mr Shepherd asked the mental health worker
and the probation officer if there is a drug offender's program
available where authorities may send Mr. Reeves for treatment. They
both said, “No, sir.”
The
Prosecutor looked at the judge, and said, “I'm not sure that some
kind of drug treatment would help.” He rested his case.
Mr.
Reeves' attorney said, “Keep him medicated. Keep him reporting.
Give him a chance to find a job.”
The
judge took a long time, carefully reading the confidential
pre-sentence investigation report, word for word.
Then
he passed a sentence of seven years in the penitentiary, with credit
for time served, to pay the original $1,000 fine for aggravated
sexual assault, $340 in court costs, and informed him that he has a
right to an appeal. The Court will furnish an attorney to handle that
for him if he so chooses.
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