Dateline: March 20, 2003

Local man gets 10 years for drug-related charges

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Clarendon resident Darrell Thomas was sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary by District Judge David McCoy last week after pleading guilty to a felony charge.

Thomas was indicted January 24, 2003, by the Donley County Grand Jury on the allegation that he and others had agreed to deliver methamphetamine to an inmate in the county jail. He was charged with the first degree felony of Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity.

“Swift justice is hard to come by with the number of cases on the docket,” said Sheriff Butch Blackburn. “The public was well served getting a criminal off the streets this quickly without the cost of a trial.”

District Attorney Stuart Messer said the case shows the system works.

 “When we can indict someone in January and have that person sent to prison within six weeks, the justice system is working,” Messer said. “The Sheriff’s Office is to be complimented. The sheriff recognized an opportunity to go after criminal activity, and he took it. As a result of the sheriff being willing to be a little unorthodox in his approach, several criminals, including Darrell Thomas, will be brought to justice.

 “I would also like the community to know this prosecution could not have taken place without the assistance of inmate Randy Tolbert, whose cooperation was essential.”

Cases are still pending against four other men and one female. David Ray Tolbert, Timothy Don Lockeby, and Joshua Lamar Allred were arrested at the same time as Thomas and faced similar charges. A 17-year-old female was also arrested but was charged as a juvenile since she was 16 at the time of the offense.

Thomas and the other suspects allegedly engaged in organized criminal activity between October 1, 2002, and January 9, 2003, during which time seven deliveries of methamphetamine were made to an inmate in the Donley County Jail.

“This is just another step in our fight against drugs,” Blackburn said, “and we’re not through yet.”