HENSON COUNTY, Tenn. — The Henson County Circuit Court addressed a busy criminal docket, taking arraignments, accepting multiple guilty and no-contest pleas, and recording sentences and conditions of probation in a range of cases, including theft, drug possession/resale, DUI/evading, and several child-exposure matters handled by the Department of Children’s Services (DCS).
Notable outcomes recorded on the morning docket included:
- Cody (Tony) Jett pleaded guilty to felony theft (document 2024CR30). The court accepted a negotiated sentence of eight years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections, suspended to probation after serving one year; the defendant was ordered to pay court costs and $10,000 restitution to Steve Hudson. The judgment on the record also credited pre-sentence jail time beginning 01/24/2025. The plea was entered on the record after the defendant was sworn.
- James H. Jackson entered a plea of nolo contendere to amended counts of attempted possession/resale of methamphetamine. The court imposed two consecutive four-year sentences as range I offenses, each suspended to community corrections with time credit for time served; the sentences include a requirement that Jackson complete substance-abuse treatment within one year (a program of at least six months), report in person, and comply with a zero-tolerance drug-screening condition that the judge noted would return the defendant to prison on a positive test. Additional misdemeanor convictions were entered and suspended concurrent with the felony disposition.
- Chase Alexander Sizemore pleaded no contest to evading arrest and DUI-related charges. Count 1 (evading) carried a one-year sentence suspended to probation with zero-tolerance drug screening and in-person reporting requirements. Count 2 (DUI) was an 11-month, 29-day term in county jail, suspended after serving 48 hours; license revocation and attendance at DUI classes were ordered.
- Avery Vershanna Johnson entered pleas on multiple counts including aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer and received negotiated suspended sentences (including a five-year sentence for the officer-assault count, suspended to probation after serving 90 days) and a restitution order of $1,700 to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
- Several cases arising from alleged child exposure to methamphetamine resulted in pleas amended to aggravated assault or similar charges and sentences suspended to probation with the condition that defendants comply with DCS requirements and submit to zero-tolerance drug testing. Judge David Wolf repeatedly emphasized that a single positive drug screen would result in revocation and prison time, telling defendants, “There are a few things that I take more seriously than people who abuse their children.”
Many defendants were scheduled for further status dates (commonly Nov. 17) or were directed to see probation before leaving the courthouse. Defense counsel on the record included Mr. Taylor (public defender), Mr. Rudd, Mr. Saul and others; the prosecutor was identified as General Allen in several matters. The court made multiple on-the-record factual recitations supporting each plea prior to accepting them.