Houston man gets 75 years for drug possession charges
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

Two of the women who were part of the jury that found a Houston man guilty on three felony drug charges March 26 were pleased to hear District Court Judge Randy Clapp sentence him to 75 years in prison during Friday's punishment phase of the trial process.

The defendant, Llewllyn Scott, 31, was convicted by a jury for possession of a controlled substance, Codeine; possession with intent to deliver, Xanax; and tampering with physical evidence. An additional charge of possession of a controlled substance, Xanax, was set aside by Clapp because of the intent charge was a higher offense.

"I do think the judge sent the right message," juror Linda Bijarro of Wharton said. "If he had given him anything less than 60 years, I would have been sad.

"I have children and grandchildren living in this county and want to protect them. Several of the jurors talked about the case a few days after and the consensus was that if drug dealers want to traffic between Houston and Corpus Christi, we want then to find a route that doesn't go through Wharton County."

A second juror in the courtroom Friday said she was glad to serve on the jury and praised the efforts of the Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol troopers who made the initial arrest.

"I don't want drugs being trafficked through Wharton County," Becky Burrell of Wharton said. "If not for the state troopers, (Scott) would still be out there dealing drugs. He is a career criminal and got what he deserved."

Bijarro also praised the Department of Public Safety.

"These state troopers do a great job," she said. "I can tell you there were 12 people sitting in the jury room who are very proud of what those young men do for us."

The man to prosecute Scott, Assistant District Attorney Ross Kurtz, said the defendant would have to serve a minimum of 25 years before he would be eligible for parole.

"He had five previous convictions, including two sequential felony priors, meaning he was convicted of a felony, got out, immediately was convicted of another felony and sent back to prison," Kurtz said.

"Because of the previous convictions, the minimum sentence for any of the counts would have been 25 years. And it will be hard for him when he goes before the parole board because they will be considering not one but three convictions for three separate offenses in this case. His five prior felony convictions were all out of Harris County."

Like Bijarro, Kurtz said the judge sent a positive message to the community.

"I am extremely pleased with Judge Clapp's sentence," he said. "It sends a perfect message to drug traffickers they aren't wanted in Wharton County."

In testifying on his own behalf on Friday, Scott maintained he was innocent of the felony charges, but admitted his guilt to a misdemeanor marijuana charge. He also said that he wasn't aware of the range of punishment, a fact disputed by both his defense attorney, Wharton Attorney Mark Racer, and Kurtz.

Racer also said his client had turned down a plea agreement prior to the trial. In his close, Racer asked for leniency for his client based on the continued denial of the charges and his background history.

Kurtz asked for the maximum 99 years in his closing. He pointed out the defendant had the previous drug convictions, was discovered using jail phones to try and convince his mother and the mother of one of his children to continue his drug dealing and was showing no remorse. He also said that it was up to the judge to protect society from the defendant, saying Scott had several opportunities to change his pattern of behavior but had refused.

The charges were based on what started as a routine traffic stop on U.S. 59 around 6:30 p.m. on July 29, 2007. DPS Trooper Jose Mena made the stop in front of the DPS office in Pierce based on the tint on the vehicle's window being too dark. The Xanax was found in a false bottom container in the trunk while a soft drink bottle with the Codeine mixed in with the soda was found inside the car.