Press release
A Henderson County jury sentenced an Athens man to 60 years in the Texas Department of Corrections on January 10, 2018. Stephen Duane Roberts, age 45, was arrested on January 20, 2017 by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force.
Investigator Josh Rickman of the Sheriff’s Office secured a search warrant to search Robert’s home on Williams Street in Athens. When the warrant was executed, deputies found almost 20 grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, Xanax, ecstasy, and other prescription pills. Roberts was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver and was indicted by a Henderson County Grand Jury in March of last year.
In the trial that began on Tuesday, January 9, Assistant District Attorneys Jessica Bargmann and Daniel Cox presented evidence and testimony from Investigator Rickman and other Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputies, as well as a woman that was in the home when the warrant was executed.
That woman testified that she had been living with Roberts for the preceding six weeks, and had used drugs numerous times while living in the home. She also testified that up to 40 or 50 people a day would come by the home to buy drugs.
After an hour and twenty minutes of deliberations, the jury found Roberts guilty. The trial, held before Judge Mark Calhoon of the 3rd District Court, then proceeded to the sentencing phase. Because of his criminal history, the sentencing range for Roberts was a minimum 25 years up to life imprisonment.
Roberts’s criminal history included two convictions for possession of drugs, one conviction for possession of drugs with intent to deliver, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful carrying of a weapon, DWI, and assault, among other offenses. He was on parole for the felon in possession of a firearm charge when arrested for this offense.
In his closing argument to the jury, Assistant District Attorney Cox stated, “Prison will not rehabilitate this man. He has been to prison three times already and keeps committing crimes. The only way to stop him from committing crimes in the future is to sentence him to prison for a significant amount of time.”
The jury deliberated and sentenced Roberts to 60 years in prison. District Attorney Mark Hall said, “The Henderson County Sheriff’s personnel that made the case and the attorneys who tried it for the State all did an excellent job. I think that the sentence handed down by the jury reveals a clear statement to offenders that we are tired of illegal drugs permeating our community and destroying lives in the process, and if two or more stints in the pen don’t bring about a change in behavior, then this will be the result.”
Locking people up for long sentences is not the answer. Apparently he did not receive the help he needed to change his life the first few times he was incarcerated. Prison does not focus on helping anyone get better. 90% of the programs offered are a joke and I know 1st hand. I did 8 yrs myself. I survived and changed because I had great family and friends who helped me. Prison did not. Prisons are a big industry. They make money off of people like ranchers do cattle. Things need to change. Now I am a productive member of society. I do not want to foot the bill for all the drug offenders for the rest of their lives. That money would be better spent on good treatment centers. Getting them real help so they can actually change.
And for that change to last society needs to change their perception of ex offenders. I been home out of trouble living a good non criminal life for over 7 yrs and still society focuses on my past not my present. Our justice system needs a major overhaul. Everyone can see that it is not working so why keep doing the same thing expecting a different outcome. That’s insane.
A long stretch may not be THE answer, but it is AN answer. How many times were you a repeat offender before you did your stretch in the pen,….2,….5,….15 times? At that point, tax payers paid for YOUR inability to see the light, but now YOU have a problem paying your taxes for the same purpose. At some point in the process, repeat offenders are simply just gonna go away for a VERY long time, if for no other reason than to put them permanently out of touch with the society that they have zero respect for. If you’re a father, especially the father of a girl, this viewpoint requires no further justification. If you’re NOT a father, no explanation will connect the dots for you. You can’t knowingly (no,…you’re not a victim here) turn your back on society and embrace lawless behavior, and then have gall to conjure up hurt feeling over that fact that people judge you for your past rather than the present. You can’t really be surprised that people, many of whom have children (but that doesn’t really matter), will exercise their right to view you with skepticism based on your documented past, as THAT past behavior and the consequences for trusting you, are what they MUST judge you by, given they must also consider the safety of loved ones. It’s not their fault,….it’s simply YOUR choices that YOU must deal with. Sorry, but there isn’t any feel good fairy dust that you can sprinkle around will make your past suddenly acceptable to other people, and evidently, 7 years isn’t enough time for that process to come to fruition. Their just watching out for themselves, family and friends. I wish you all the best, and a fruitful re-assimilation into your chosen community.