Ocala courthouse: Four men resolve pending criminal cases
Four men resolved their pending criminal cases last week at the Marion County Judicial Center.
Three of the four men were locked up in the Marion County Jail, and a fourth had been released on bond. Three had their charges reduced by prosecutors.
Marion's Capitol riot cases: One sentence served, one plea hearing set, four cases pending
Not behind bars: Probation for man charged in 2016 traffic crash that killed bicycle rider in south Marion
Fighting: Summerfield man sentenced for having child porn and tussling with sheriff's deputies
State v. Alexander Wayne Phillip
On Wednesday, Alexander Wayne Phillip entered a no contest plea in front of Circuit Judge Peter Brigham. Phillip was accused of trying to free a friend from the local jail.
Court documents indicate Phillip was sentenced to a five-year prison term and must make restitution to the jail. Phillip is credited with 603 days already spent at the jail.
According to authorities, the 21-year-old Gainesville man had just been released from the jail a day before he mounted a brazen attempt to free a friend from the lockup in July 2020.
According to Sheriff's Office officials, Phillip used bolt cutters to cut a section of the outside fence at the jail. He went to a housing unit, where he used a pickaxe to hit a thick piece of glass window.
Phillip's breakout plan was thwarted when corrections officers inside began doing a head count near the housing unit. Phillip left, but was captured in another county.
A corrections officer was disciplined for the incident. Officials said that if Phillip was successful, 40 inmates could have escaped. Sheriff's Office officials have since made security improvements at the jail.
Joshua "Blue" Douglas Haynes, 23, one of three people officials said was either involved in or knew about the venture, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in late 2020. The third person, Ronald Christopher Hasty, 39, remains behind bars; his case is ongoing.
State v. Shane Beckham
The next day, Circuit Judge Robert Hodges accepted plea deals from Shane Beckham, Baylee Bell and Jarvis Smith.
Beckham pleaded no contest to amended charges of four counts each of child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to eight years of probation. Beckham, 41, of Morriston, also must complete a 10-week parenting course and anger management program, cannot adopt or foster any children, and cannot have any contact with the victims. At least one victim was present at the hearing.
In the hearing, the court was told that Beckham mentally and physically abused four children who were in his care at various times. An example presented in court was he would make the children sleep outside, regardless of the weather.
State v. Baylee Bell
Next up was Bell. The 22-year-old Ocala man had his charge reduced from lewd and lascivious battery to child abuse.
Bell was sentenced to five years of probation and 364 days at the county jail. He has 139 days of credit for time already served.
The plea deal calls for him to undergo a psychological sexual evaluation within 60 days of being released and to complete a sex offender treatment program.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Bell in 2018 and accused him of having sexual contact with a then 13-year-old girl.
State v. Jarvis Smith
Smith pleaded no contest to several charges that involved drugs and weapons offenses. At least one charge, attempted murder, was reduced to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The victim declined to move ahead with the case, officials said.
The 29-year-old Ocala man was sentenced to a three-year prison term with 1,056 days of credit already served at the jail.
In the aggravated assault case, Ocala police officers said Smith fired shots at a man inside an apartment in 2017.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala, Florida courthouse: Four men take plea bargains
