Local man sentenced for drug possession

Under heavy security, a judge passed sentence Wednesday in Bourbon County District Court on convicted felon Albert Richmond, giving him two years and two months in prison on a two-year-old charge for possessing cocaine.

Richmond, 29, was led into court under a blanket of substantial security. Four Southeast Kansas Correctional Center officers, two Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, two Bourbon County deputy sheriffs and Bourbon County Sheriff Harold Coleman stood guard as Richmond entered and exited the courtroom.

Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Richard Smith sentenced Richmond to his prison term, which will be served at an as-yet undetermined Kansas Department of Corrections facility. The term will begin after Richmond's legal proceedings on other charges in Crawford County have been completed. He was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Tyrone Owens on Oct. 21 in Pittsburg. Authorities in Pittsburg won't say whether the shooting was drug-related or not. Richmond and 24-year-old Ramone D. Hester and 26-year-old Malcolm A. Jackson were charged with murder in connection with the shooting. They are currently in custody, along with Richmond, at the Crawford County Jail in lieu of $1 million dollar bond each. After the sentencing, Richmond was transported back to Crawford County.

The sentence also carries a 12 month post-release intensive supervison period.

The Bourbon County Attorney charged Richmond on Dec. 10, 2004, with one count of possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was arrested by Fort Scott Police and Kansas Highway Patrol with an undisclosed amount of cocaine at a house on Osbun St. He pleaded guilty to the possession of cocaine and the other charges were dismissed.

The sentencing is more than two months past due. On Oct. 18, Bourbon County District Court Judge Gerald Hart allowed Richmond time to get his affairs in order and turn himself in to SEKRCC before sentencing on that date. He never showed up.

Hart then issued a bench warrant for Richmond's arrest, but he wasn't captured until Nov. 1, when authorities serving the warrant for the first-degree murder charge found Richmond hiding in a motel in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area.

Fort Scott Police arrested Richmond, who lived in Fort Scott prior to the shooting incident, numerous times in 2004 for drug-related crimes as well as misdemeanor traffic violations.

Smith had an option to choose to impose a 23-month, 24-month, or 26-month sentence. Richmond's court-appointed attorney, Michael Gayoso, asked the court for the 24-month sentence.