An Oktibbeha County man sentenced to 120 years in state prison will soon be free, a circuit court judge decided Tuesday morning.
Felix Wynn, 66, was convicted in 2006 on two counts of selling cocaine. As a habitual offender, he was sentenced to 60 years for each count and a $2 million fine.
Circuit Court Judge Lee Howard resentenced Wynn on Tuesday for the time he has served, 13 years and 10 months, and dropped the fine. Wynn will be held in the Oktibbeha County Jail until the Mississippi Department of Corrections processes his paperwork.
His attorney, Roy A. Perkins, argued that the 120-year sentence was a misinterpretation of the law. Howard initially sentenced Wynn under the statute that orders the maximum sentence with no parole and no chance of early release, according to circuit court documents.
Perkins said Howard was wrong to believe the maximum sentence was the only option, and he cited state Supreme Court precedent from 2017 that a person can, but does not have to, receive a double prison sentence for a second charge.
Wynn applied in 2010 and 2013 for the opportunity to seek a lighter sentence. Both requests were denied, but his request in 2019 was granted.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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