Four from Knox County plead guilty in circuit court cases
Apr. 20—KNOX COUNTY — A Girdler man facing charges from a 2019 vehicle chase with police, while having an escaped Knox County inmate in the car, accepted a deal from the Commonwealth and pleaded guilty to charges in Knox County Circuit Court via Zoom Thursday.
Devin Tyler Mills, 24, sat in the office of his attorney, Billy Taylor, and made the plea to the charges of fleeing or evading police in the first degree, wanton endangerment of a police officer in the first degree, DUI, and resisting arrest.
Mills was originally indicted on one count of fleeing or evading police in the first degree, four counts of wanton endangerment of a police officer in the first degree, failure to wear a seatbelt, speeding 26 miles per hour or over, DUI, and resisting arrest.
In return for his plea, the Commonwealth has recommended a sentence of four years on the count of fleeing or evading, four years on the wanton endangerment charge, 48 hours and $250 fine on the DUI charge, and 12 months for resisting arrest, all to run concurrent for a total of four years.
The Commonwealth's offer will see that four-year period probated for a period of five years on the condition that Mills serves 60 days in jail. The Commonwealth will move to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment at Mills' formal sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for May 17 at 1 p.m.
On March 15, 2019, police attempted to perform a traffic stop on South Main Street in Barbourville. However, the vehicle did not stop, instead speeding away onto Edgewood Drive, according to police.
The vehicle continued onto KY 11 and then KY 1809 before finally turning onto KY 92 toward Bell County.
The driver, identified as Mills, soon lost control of the vehicle in a curve, striking an embankment and causing the vehicle to overturn.
Police determined the vehicle's passenger, identified as Bobby James Hamilton, was a Knox County Detention Center inmate who had just escaped from the jail. He was taken to Barbourville ARH for treatment and then placed back in custody once released.
James Travis Lowe, 25, of Woolum also accepted a deal from the Commonwealth and pleaded guilty Thursday.
Lowe was indicted in 2017 on a second-degree rape, no force charge.
In exchange for his plea, the Commonwealth recommended a five-year sentence to be probated for five yeas. Lowe will also have to register on the state's sex-offender registry list as part of the agreement.
Lowe will be formally sentenced on Monday, June 14, at 1 p.m.
On Friday, Larry James Dye, 42, and Amy Denise Dye, 37, both of Gray pleaded guilty to an amended rape charge stemming from an incident in 2017.
Both Larry and Amy Dye were indicted by a Knox County grand jury in January 2020. In that indictment both are accused of acting alone or in concert with others in committing the offense of rape in the first degree by engaging in sexual intercourse with the victim.
Larry Dye was also originally indicted on a charge of second-degree persistent felony offender. In 2013, Dye was convicted in Knox County for manufacturing methamphetamine and first-degree wanton endangerment. According to the indictment, Dye was to serve a 12-year sentence to run concurrent with a one-year sentence for his previous charges.
In exchange for pleading guilty Friday, Larry Dye's charges were amended to rape in the second degree with the second count being dismissed by the Commonwealth during formal sentencing. The Commonwealth recommended Larry Dye serve eight years and that he register on the state's sex-offender registry.
Amy Dye's charge was also amended to rape in the second degree. In exchange for pleading guilty, the Commonwealth recommended that she serve six years and have to register on the state's sex-offender registry.
Both Larry and Amy Dye are scheduled for formal sentencing on Monday, June 14, at 1 p.m.
