A jury in Gilmer sentenced a Gladewater man to 99 years in prison last week after convicting him of possession of firearm by a felon who was a habitual offender, said Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd.
Jimmy Wayne Skinner, 50, had pleaded not guilty in 115th District Court to committing the offense last Feb. 2, but didn’t testify in the Aug. 14 trial, said Byrd.
The defense, represented by Marshall attorney Craig Fletcher, argued Skinner didn’t own the gun he was charged with possessing, the prosecutor said.
Skinner has been to prison four times, Byrd noted. 115th District Court Judge Dean Fowler approved Byrd’s request to “stack” the 99-year term on top of whatever sentence Skinner must serve for parole revocation, if his current parole on a felony driving while intoxicated charge is revoked, the district attorney added.
Skinner was arrested Feb. 2 when, following a year-long investigation, the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office served a narcotic search warrant at his home at 9077 Bob-O-Link Road, finding him in a shop building which contained drugs and multiple firearms, Byrd said.
Methamphetamine was “being sold and distributed in large quantities” from the site, he wrote in a press release.
Skinner was found in a room containing that drug, marijuana, cutting agents and loaded syringes, along with the guns, said Byrd, who gave these additional details:
When officers entered the building, they found the defendant next to a loaded 20 gauge short barrel sawed-off shotgun. Skinner, one of six persons arrested at the scene, was taken into custody on the firearm charge, a warrant alleging parole violation, and a charge of possession of methamphetamine.
Jurors took about 50 minutes to convict Skinner, and about 40 to determine his sentence. Byrd, who prosecuted the case with new Assistant District Attorney Greg Geddie, said he asked jurors to assess “no less than 60” years, while Fletcher asked them for a 35-year term.
Charging that Skinner was a habitual offender enabled the jury to sentence him to anywhere from 25 years to 99 years or life, the district attorney said.
Skinner was currently on parole of a 25-year sentence he received in Upshur County for felony DWI in June 2012, and that parole runs through 2036, Byrd added.
– By Phillip Williams