Pubdate: Tue, 26 Aug 2003
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2003 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535

JUDGE BANISHES MAN FROM ALL BUT ONE COUNTY

CONYERS (AP) - A Rockdale County judge has ordered that a man sentenced for 
selling cocaine be banished from most of the state for life. Chief Superior 
Court Judge Sidney Nation sentenced Larry Nathan Coleman to serve 10 years 
in prison and also ordered that he can live only in Lowndes County as a 
free man, or else leave the state. "As a practical matter, you come back in 
the state anytime for the rest of your life and you go to jail," Nation 
told the 57-year-old defendant. "When you get out of prison, you leave the 
state." Since 1877, The state constitution has prohibited banishing 
criminals from the state. However, people can still be banished from 
certain counties, so some judges banish defendants from 158 of the 159 
counties to encourage convicts to leave Georgia. Coleman was sentenced to 
serve the first 10 years of a 40-year sentence on two separate counts of 
sale of cocaine and 10 years on a 30-year sentence for possession of 
cocaine, with the sentences to run concurrently. Nation also banished 
Deyagius Montrell Neal from Rockdale County for the duration of his 
sentence on a charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. 
Neal, 19, was sentenced to serve the first five years of a 30-year sentence 
and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. The judge considered the fact that the 
teenager had no prior criminal history. "You sell cocaine and you go beyond 
the pale in my book, and you could be going to prison for a long, long 
time," said Nation. "You are headed down the wrong path, and now is the 
time to stop."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom