In the Courts

The following felony cases have either been tried in a court of law or have been settled without trial and are considered closed.

• Angel Merry was sentenced to eight months probation after pleading no contest to a charge of domestic battery by strangulation on May 11. Adjudication was withheld. Merry was arrested In March. A charge of intentional child abuse was not pursued. Merry still has charges of trespass and a violation of a domestic violence injunction to face. A battery charge was not pursued in that case. Those charges came about in April when she reportedly went to a home where she had been previously trespassed and attacked a young woman she believed was sleeping with her “baby daddy.”
• Paige Pyatt was sentenced to two years probation after pleading no contest to charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia on May 11. Pyatt was arrested in August 2022 during a traffic stop.
• James Schock was sentenced on May 11 to (time served)one year in county jail after pleading no contest to possession of hydromorphone and possession of drug paraphernalia. Schock was arrested in December 2021 during a traffic stop.
• James Simpkins, 71, was sentenced on May 11 to two years probation after pleading no contest to failing to provide required information as a sexual offender. Simpkins was arrested in August 2022.
• Charges were dropped against Marvin Thomas on May 16. Thomas was charged with sexual battery on a minor in July of 2021.
• Michael Watson was sentenced to two years and two months in state prison after he entered a no contest plea to possession with intent to sell methamphetamine on May 11. Watson was arrested May 2022 during an undercover operation of the narcotics task force.
• Walter Fowler was sentenced to three years probation after pleading no contest to DUI with property damage, possession of cocaine, possession of alprazolam and possession of drug paraphernalia. Adjudication was withheld on the drug charges. Fowler was arrested in November 2022 after swerving into an oncoming lane of traffic and hitting another vehicle.
• Ryan Raulerson was sentenced May 29 to four months (time served) in county jail after pleading no contest to possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license/habitual offender. In addition to the jail time, Raulerson’s license was revoked. Raulerson was arrested in June 2022 during a traffic stop.
• Preston Collins was sentenced in April to one year probation after pleading no contest to false imprisonment, battery, threatening a witness and driving on a suspended license. Adjudication was withheld. Collins was arrested in September 2022.
• Bruce Bass was sentenced in May to one year and six months in state prison after pleading no contest to sale of hydromorphone and possession with intent to sell. Bass was arrested in October 2021 during an undercover operation by the narcotics task force.
• Charges against William Fulwider were dropped in June. Fulwider was charged with the sale/manufacture/deliver of methamphetamine and possession of with intent to sell. Fulwider was arrested in May 2022 during an undercover operation by the narcotics task force.

A no contest plea does not mean the defendant admits guilt. It means he/she chooses not to fight the charges for one reason or another. The effect of the plea is virtually identical to that of a guilty plea.

Withheld adjudication generally refers to a decision by a judge to put a person on probation without an adjudication of guilt. It means an individual is not found guilty legally by the court. If the person successfully completes the terms of probation and has no subsequent offenses, no further action will be taken on the case, and the offense for which adjudication was withheld is typically not considered a prior conviction for purposes of habitual offender sentencing.