Pubdate: Tue, 26 Nov 2002
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact:  http://www.l-e-o.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Author: Jim Houston

OFFICER'S SON PLEADS GUILTY IN POT BUST

Probation Revoked, Man To Serve 24 To 30 Months

With his father at his side, the son of a veteran Columbus police officer 
pleaded guilty Monday to possession with intent to distribute more than 10 
pounds of marijuana while on probation for a prior marijuana sale.

DaLionel Lightning, 23, of 2844 Viking Drive, was wanted for probation 
violation when Metro Narcotics Task Force agents began watching the 
residence he shared with a girlfriend, Assistant District Attorney Al 
Whitaker told Muscogee Superior Court Judge Frank Jordan. After seeing 
numerous people enter and leave the place, agents with the arrest warrant 
entered and found a large plastic bag of marijuana on the sofa, he said.

A further search of the residence uncovered 11 one-gallon plastic bags of 
marijuana totaling more than 10 pounds, plus $3,524 in cash, Whitaker said.

Lightning told police he got the marijuana from a man in Atlanta and was 
selling it to make money before he was arrested for violating his 
probation, the prosecutor said.

Lightning, a 1998 Kendrick High School graduate, was sentenced to four 
years on probation on Dec. 27, 2001, for sale of marijuana. He was ordered 
to serve a stint in boot camp and was granted first-offender treatment, 
which would have allowed his record to be cleared upon completion of probation.

Defense attorney Mark Shelnutt noted that Lightning was entering a "cold 
plea" with no plea bargain recommendation, but asked Jordan for a sentence 
of no more than two or three years behind bars. Lightning already has been 
jailed for five months awaiting his day in court, he said.

Jordan sentenced Lightning to 10 years on probation, but required him to 
serve from 24 to 30 months behind bars in the Western Detention Center in 
Butler, where he must complete a drug-rehabilitation program as part of his 
sentence. The judge also adjudicated him guilty of the 2001 offense and 
revoked 24-30 months of the probation remaining on that sentence.

"This is your opportunity to make something of yourself," he told Lightning 
as his uniformed father stood silently beside him. "This is your second 
chance -- and it is going to be your last chance."

Lightning's girlfriend, Michelle R. McLester, 20, of 1269 Briarwood Ave., 
pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was sentenced to two years on 
probation and 200 hours of community service. Defense attorney Mike 
Reynolds said McLester, who sometimes stayed at the apartment with 
Lightning, was entering a "best interest" plea without admitting she 
possessed the marijuana.
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