Cemetery vandal sentenced By MICHAEL W. HOSKINS Daily Journal staff writer [email protected] Oct. 5, 2004 A former cemetery employee who damaged dozens of tombstones during a graveyard vandalism spree in June will spend six months in jail and perform 10 full weeks of community service. Clifton A. Beezley was sentenced Monday morning for his role in a nighttime vandalism spree at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin. The 18-year-old Franklin man was arrested two days after the incident, and he appeared before Johnson County Circuit Judge Mark Loyd on Monday. He plead guilty to cemetery mischief, a Class D felony that carries a penalty of six months to three years in prison. Beezley will serve six months in jail and must then serve a year on active probation, where he must check in with a probation officer daily. Following that probation period, Beezley must serve 400 hours, or 10 full weeks, of community service. The court also ordered Beezley to pay $40,000 in restitution for the damage to the cemetery, paying at least $100 a month. He must also get his GED. “This is a very, very strong sentence,” Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said. “This kind of (damage) is outrageous, and we wanted to make a point that there’s nothing funny or cute about this.” Deputy prosecutor Elizabeth Atkinson argued the case in court, and attorney Phil Wilson represented Beezley. Wilson did not return phone calls Monday afternoon. Beezley is a former part-time employee at the cemetery, but police were not positive his past employment is related to the crime, said Franklin police Detective Bryan Burton, the arresting officer who investigated the case. Police believe Beezley was involved in the vandalism because of a 16-year-old juvenile he knew from working at the cemetery, Burton said after the initial arrest. The other teenager has never been arrested or officially charged in connection with the cemetery crime. According to Burton, the juvenile had worked at the Greenlawn Cemetery as assigned community service. A tip from city officials about the juvenile’s behavior at the cemetery led police to him, Burton said. The juvenile told police he had stayed the night with Beezley, whom police then focused their interviews on. Police recovered physical evidence that linked Beezley to the crime, Burton said. One piece included the print of a size-12 tennis shoe from one of the tombstones that matched Beezley’s shoe, he said. Beezley will serve his jail sentence in a community or state jail, and the probation department will determine where the community service is performed. Prosecutors asked that the community service be served in a cemetery, but the community corrections department makes that decision. http://www.thejournalnet.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=46442&Se ctionID=1&SubSectionID=113

YES!!!!!!! Brad Manzenberger <[email protected]> wrote:Cemetery vandal sentenced By MICHAEL W. HOSKINS Daily Journal staff writer [email protected] Oct. 5, 2004 A former cemetery employee who damaged dozens of tombstones during a graveyard vandalism spree in June will spend six months in jail and perform 10 full weeks of community service. Clifton A. Beezley was sentenced Monday morning for his role in a nighttime vandalism spree at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin. The 18-year-old Franklin man was arrested two days after the incident, and he appeared before Johnson County Circuit Judge Mark Loyd on Monday. He plead guilty to cemetery mischief, a Class D felony that carries a penalty of six months to three years in prison. Beezley will serve six months in jail and must then serve a year on active probation, where he must check in with a probation officer daily. Following that probation period, Beezley must serve 400 hours, or 10 full weeks, of community service. The court also ordered Beezley to pay $40,000 in restitution for the damage to the cemetery, paying at least $100 a month. He must also get his GED. �This is a very, very strong sentence,� Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said. �This kind of (damage) is outrageous, and we wanted to make a point that there�s nothing funny or cute about this.� Deputy prosecutor Elizabeth Atkinson argued the case in court, and attorney Phil Wilson represented Beezley. Wilson did not return phone calls Monday afternoon. Beezley is a former part-time employee at the cemetery, but police were not positive his past employment is related to the crime, said Franklin police Detective Bryan Burton, the arresting officer who investigated the case. Police believe Beezley was involved in the vandalism because of a 16-year-old juvenile he knew from working at the cemetery, Burton said after the initial arrest. The other teenager has never been arrested or officially charged in connection with the cemetery crime. According to Burton, the juvenile had worked at the Greenlawn Cemetery as assigned community service. A tip from city officials about the juvenile�s behavior at the cemetery led police to him, Burton said. The juvenile told police he had stayed the night with Beezley, whom police then focused their interviews on. Police recovered physical evidence that linked Beezley to the crime, Burton said. One piece included the print of a size-12 tennis shoe from one of the tombstones that matched Beezley�s shoe, he said. Beezley will serve his jail sentence in a community or state jail, and the probation department will determine where the community service is performed. Prosecutors asked that the community service be served in a cemetery, but the community corrections department makes that decision. http://www.thejournalnet.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=46442&Se ctionID=1&SubSectionID=113 ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== INPCRP State Coordinator: Brad Manzenberger < [email protected] > http://www.inpcrp.org --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.