Tomarcus Fulks, who was convicted of a 2005 armed robbery for the second time Thursday, was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison.
Fulks, who will also have to pay court costs after prison, was one of five people who participated in the robbery of a house owned by Billy and Sherry Franks in the 800 block of New Hope Road the night of July 18, 2005.
During the robbery, one of the defendants beat the late Billy Franks, then-70, with a baseball bat, breaking his arm. He was able to chase the robbers from the house after his wife tossed him a .38-caliber handgun he kept under his pillow.
The defendants caused damage to the home and made off with a stereo, a .22-caliber pistol and her purse.
Fulks and another defendant, Joshua Glenn, claimed they remained inside the car while three female friends — Allegra Young, Katherine Williams and Leah Lafayette — went inside the house. Glenn later changed his story, testifying that Fulks also entered the house.
Both of the Franks claimed that at least one of the robbers was male, according to their testimony.
Fulks had already been convicted of armed robbery and aggravated assault for the same crime. The Mississippi Supreme Court threw out those convictions, which had both been handed down by Circuit Judge Jim Kitchens, because of a ruling he made about not continuing the case.
Kitchens maintains he did nothing wrong and that the Supreme Court would have reached a different conclusion if it had looked at the records showing the continuances.
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