Clinton man makes academic history at county jail

Nov. 1—CLINTON — Wearing a maroon graduation cap and gown, Lavoyd Lavonte Romell Jones was honored Tuesday at the Clinton County Sheriff's Office as the first jail inmate in the county's history to complete the HiSET program and earn a high school equivalency diploma.

"This is a day that the courts love to hear about," Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolfe said. "The judges, when they hear that someone has taken self-initiative, that they are working hard to improve their lives, that is a great step forward for the community and it is a great step forward for the individual."

At a sentencing hearing the following day, Jones was placed on probation for two years on two suspended sentences together totaling up to 20 years imprisonment.

"Everybody makes mistakes, and they don't determine who we are," Jones said to Sheriff's Office and jail staff, Eastern Iowa Community College representatives, and members of his family in attendance Tuesday. "For those who are out there listening, if I can do it, you can do it. There's no excuse."

According to court documents, Jones, 37, of Clinton, was initially charged with failure to affix drug tax stamp on 10 or more dosage units, intent to deliver crack under 40 grams, possession of contraband within a correctional facility, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance in connection to an Aug. 17 traffic stop conducted by Clinton Police Officers.

Court documents state that Jones was identified as the individual in the front passenger seat of a red 2008 Chevrolet Impala during the traffic stop on the 1200 block of North Fourth Street.

After a K9 alerted to the odor of a controlled substance coming from the car, officers recovered a brown backpack that Jones identified as his. It contained a scale with purported crack cocaine residue.

Jones was taken into custody and transported to the Clinton County jail where a strip search was conducted of his person by jail staff. The search produced one clear baggie containing three bags of purported crack cocaine. One of those three bags contained 13 more individually packaged baggies containing the substance. Collectively, all bags weighed about 9.45 grams.

Court documents further state that Jones was also in possession of approximately 0.3 grams of heroin.

Jones' bail amount was set at $30,000, as ordered by District Associate Judge Kimberly Shepherd.

A plea agreement filed on Sept. 14 shows that Jones then agreed to plead guilty to failure to affix drug tax stamp and possession of contraband in a correctional facility as a habitual offender, both Class D felonies in the state of Iowa.

For the charge of failure to affix drug tax stamp, Jones was sentenced Wednesday to up to five years imprisonment to be served concurrently with the sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment for the charge of possession of contraband in a correctional institution as a habitual offender. The other charges were dropped.

"Lavoyd was in our class at the college, and then he wasn't there," lead Clinton Community College HiSET program teacher Mary Jo Nier said Tuesday at the Sheriff's Office. "And we figured out [it's] because he was here."

Jones was able to continue the program while incarcerated pending court proceedings, which was part of initial plans for the law center even before its construction with a training facility was completed four years ago.

"When Clinton County officials were pursuing a new criminal justice center which included the jail and Sheriff's Office, one of the big visions they had was to develop a facility that not only houses somebody that may have made a mistake, that have been charged with a crime, but give them the opportunity to succeed," Clinton County Sheriff Bill Greenwalt said, specifically recognizing the Chief Deputy Steve Diesch, County Supervisor Dan Srp, County Auditor Eric Van Lancker and former Sheriff Rick Lincoln for their efforts to bring the vision to fruition.

The HiSET program, formerly known as the GED program, begins with a two- to three-hour intake assessment on math and reading, Nier explained on Tuesday. Following the intake assessment is a 40-hour instruction requirement that must be met, then a subsequent benchmark test. If an individual does not pass this test, they must take another 40 hours of instruction. If an individual does pass, they are then offered an official practice test for each of the subjects of math, science, social studies, reading and writing.

"It is a great honor for me to stand next to this man here today and tell you what he's accomplished," Greenwalt said on Tuesday. "You've broken ground for us that I didn't know if it was ever going to happen."

"He's not done," Nier added, sharing that Jones plans to attend Clinton Community College for the Engineering Technology program following his release.