Aggravated assault, contraband and tampering pleas entered

Michael R. Moser | Editor emeritus mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com, Crossville Chronicle, Tenn.
·2 min read

Jul. 29—A Crossville area man pleaded guilty to two felony counts and received an eight-year prison sentence to be served as a Range II offender at 35% earlier this month in Cumberland County Criminal Court.

Jeffery Jonathan Dannel, 58, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and attempted possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with June 7, 2023, domestic incident investigated by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

It is alleged that during that domestic assault, a shotgun was displayed in a menacing manner.

As part of the sentencing agreement, Dannel will forfeit the shotgun, be banned from contact with the victim, have all fines and court costs waived and will be given credit for 79 days already served in jail.

In unrelated cases, the following guilty pleas were entered:

—Carol Denise Davis, 53, pleaded guilty to an information charging introducing contraband into a penal institution and received a two-year suspended sentence to be served on supervised probation, with fine and court costs waived. She is being credited with 12 days already served in jail. The charge stems from a June 21 incident at the Justice Center where meth was found during the booking process.

—William Thomas Whittaker Jr., 37, charged with probation violations, tampering with evidence, evading arrest, simple possession of meth and driving on a suspended license, pleaded guilty to the probation violation stemming from a Dec. 7, 2020, plea to possession of less than .5 grams of meth. He was sentenced to four years on supervised probation and the plea has resulted in him having to serve the balance of those four years with credit for 636 days already served in jail.

Whitaker also pleaded guilty to felon evading arrest and received a three-year sentence to serve at 30% concurrent with the probation violation sentence.

All remaining charges were dropped.

The latest charges stem from a flight from police on March 16, 2023, when officers attempted to serve the probation violation warrant.

Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com