A 24-year-old Clarksdale man will serve five additional years in a state prison after he pled guilty to escaping from the Coahoma County Jail last year.
Corderius Thomas, who is currently incarcerated at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, was sentenced on July 17 by Coahoma Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster to serve five years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The latest sentence will run consecutive to any sentences previously imposed. Prior to the escape conviction, Thomas had tentatively been scheduled for a Jan. 17, 2019, release from prison, according to the Department of Corrections.
On Jan. 23, 2013, Thomas was sentenced in Coahoma Circuit Court to 10 years in prison for the Sept. 26, 2011, burglary of a dwelling. And on June 2, 2016, Thomas was sentenced to five years for the July 24, 2014, burglary of a dwelling.
Thomas, who was represented by attorney Azki Shah, was indicted by a Coahoma County grand jury on the escape charge on Dec. 7, 2017.
Thomas was one of four inmates who escaped from the Coahoma County Jail in the early morning hours of Aug. 11, 2017. Marquis Stevenson, Percy Bryant and LeAndrew Booker were the other three who escaped.
Thomas would be captured the next morning, while Bryant was apprehended four days after the escape. Booker would be found a week after the escape, but it would be two months before authorities would capture Stevenson.
On May 16, 2018, Stevenson was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of the first-degree murder of a Clarksdale man in December 2014. Stevenson, 27, is currently being housed in the North Mississippi County Jail.
On May 23, 2018, Bryant was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he pled guilty to charges stemming from an April 17, 2017, shooting, as well as the escape charge. Bryant, 22, is scheduled for release April 19, 2029, as he’s currently an inmate at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl.
Booker, 23, is currently incarcerated at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville. He’s not scheduled for release until Dec. 28, 2041, as he’s serving 31 years for four sentences, including armed robbery and burglary charges.
In other recent Coahoma Circuit Court happenings:
n James Coleman, 53, whose last known address was 724 Garfield St. in Clarksdale and was currently an inmate at the Coahoma County Jail, pled guilty to a charge of burglary of a business.
Coleman was sentenced July 16 by Circuit Court Judge Linda Coleman to serve seven years in prison, but Coleman suspended two years of the sentence, giving him five years in prison.
Coleman was indicted May 30, 2018, for the Dec. 3, 2017, burglary of Magnolia House, at 1040 Desoto Ave. in Clarksdale.
n Torrie Xavier Harrell, 23, of Apt. 802 at 105 Sasse St. in Clarksdale, pled guilty to the burglary of a dwelling. He was sentenced July 20 by Coleman to five years’ probation.
n Ticozy Scott, 28, of 1116 Booker Road in Lyon but a current inmate at the Coahoma County Jail, pled guilty July 31 to a charge of auto theft. He was sentenced that same day by Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster to 10 years as seven of those years will be served in prison and the other three years will be post-release supervision.
n A jury trial found Larry Dewayne Hoy Sr. not guilty of the charge of aggravated assault domestic violence. The verdict was announced Thursday, Aug. 2 after a one-day trial.
