Montgomery, Al. – The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles will hold 34 parole hearings this week, including hearings for 22 violent offenders, among them six murderers, one sex offender, two convicted of attempted murder, one for manslaughter and five for robbery.
Parole hearings scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 28:
(Sentencing information from the Alabama Department of Corrections public website.)
- Russell Alonzo Allen was sentenced in 2001 to life in prison for trafficking cocaine in Jefferson County. He has served about 19 years of the life sentence. He had previously been sentenced to two years for a 1990 first-degree assault in Jefferson County.
- Johnny Marion Brown is serving a life sentence for a 2010 conviction for manufacturing controlled substances, and 15 years for drug possession, both in Montgomery County. He has served 10 years, four months of the life sentence. Brown’s criminal career started in 2004 when he was sentenced to five years for third-degree burglary. He escaped from prison the next year. In 2011 he was sentenced to 10 years for the 2006 escape and 15 years for first-degree theft of identity in Elmore County.
- Timothy Lynn Cannon has been granted parole multiple times but has continued to commit crimes. He was sentenced in 1991 to 15 years for two third-degree burglaries in Morgan County. After serving just five years of the 15-year sentence, Cannon was paroled in 1995. He was sent back to prison in 2002 for 20 years for drug possession in Morgan County. He escaped from prison in 2005, was caught and sent back for 10 years. He was paroled on the drug possession case, but he violated parole in 2017 and 2018 and was sent back to prison. He has served 17 years of his 20-year sentence.
- Anthony D. Jackson was first sentenced to five years in 2008 for receiving stolen property, and one year, 10 months for theft of property and criminal possession of a forged instrument, all in Montgomery County. He escaped from prison, was caught and sentenced in 2009 to nine months for first-degree escape. Jackson had served less than two years of his five-year sentence for receiving stolen property when he was granted parole in 2010. But he was sent back to prison again on Nov. 15, 2018 for five years for distribution of a controlled substance, and two and a half years for drug possession in Elmore County. Jackson has served about a year and a half of his current five-year sentence.
- Dylan Blake Ingram was sentenced in 2013 to five years for second-degree assault in Calhoun County. He was sent back to prison for five years in February 2019 for four drug convictions. He has served two years, seven months of his five-year sentence.
Parole hearings for Wednesday, Jan. 29:
- Annette Belisle was sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for murder in Marshall County. She has served nearly 18 years of the term. The Gadsden Times reported she was allowed to plead guilty to felony murder rather than being tried for capital murder in exchange for testifying against her husband in his capital murder trial for the same crime. The victim, a cashier at T&J Kwikway in Boaz, died from a blow to the head during a robbery, the newspaper reported Oct. 17, 2003. Belisle’s husband Rick was sentenced to death in the case. Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals records show that the Belisles “were in desperate need of money” when they planned to burglarize the store. The victim was “viciously attacked … with a large can of peas and a metal pipe,” the court records showed. “The victim endured extreme pain and suffering before she died.” After the murder, court records show, the Belisles fled to Missouri, where they were caught.
- Billy Ray Hill is a convicted murderer, three-time convicted robber and two-time convicted burglar. Hill was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for murder and first-degree robbery in Geneva County. He has served 25 years, nine months of the life sentence. WTVY TV in Dothan reported on June 14, 2004 that the elderly victim’s “bludgeoned body was found inside his Samson home. An autopsy indicated that (the victim) was beaten to death with a hammer.” The previous year, he was convicted of third-degree robbery and sentenced to 30 years. In 1990, Hill was convicted of seven crimes; first-degree robbery, two counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of theft of property, and escape, all in Geneva County. He was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for those crimes.
- Michael Anthony Blair was sentenced in 2000 to 35 years in prison for murder in Jefferson County. He has served 20 and a half years of the sentence.
- Eric Dewayne Brown is a convicted murderer and two-time armed robber. He was sentenced in 2001 to 25 years in prison for the murder and the two first-degree robberies in Jefferson County. He has served about 19 and a half years of the 25-year sentence. Brown also was convicted in 2012 of conspiring to “commit certain felonies” in Elmore County and sentenced to two years.
- Emanuel James was sentenced in 2000 to 25 years in prison for murder in Jefferson County. He has served under 19 years, nine months of the sentence.
- Jerry Louis Martin was sentenced in 1994 to life in prison for murder in Madison County. He has served 26 years of the prison term. Martin also was convicted of theft of property in Limestone County and sentenced in 2011 to 12 years.
- Jimmie Eugene Wyatt is a convicted murderer who also was convicted twice of assault. He is serving a life sentence for murder handed down in 1993 in Montgomery County. He served sentences of six months and two years, respectively, for a 1990 second-degree assault in Cleburne County and a 1995 second-degree assault in St. Clair County. He has served 27 years of his life sentence for murder.
- Colt Mandell Walters was sentenced in 2009 to 20 years in prison for a 2003 conviction for attempted murder in Montgomery County. He has served 15 years, seven months of the 20-year sentence.
- Larry Larkin Henderson was convicted of attempted murder and first-degree robbery in Madison County in 1987 and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He has served 32 years of the sentence.
- Joshua Andrew Phillips was sentenced in 2012 to 20 years in prison for manslaughter in Marshall County. He has served about seven and a half years of the 20-year term. WAFF Television in Huntsville reported Nov. 1, 2010 that Phillips was originally charged with murder after his vehicle struck and killed a man who was standing in his yard. WAFF reported Sept. 5, 2012 that the man Phillips killed was his wife’s ex-husband. “Prosecutors said Phillips drove to a mobile home where his wife was and got into an argument” with the victim, the TV station reported. “That’s when he ran over him with his truck just outside of the home.” The family of the victim has a Facebook page opposing parole.
- Tommy Fred Bowen is a two-time sex offender. He was convicted of first-degree rape in Russell County in 1995 and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Less than a year later, Bowen was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in Lee County and sentenced to 17 years. He has served 25 years of the 35-year sentence.
- Michael Darnell Carter was sentenced in Nov. 2017 to eight years in prison for a 2013 third-degree robbery in DeKalb County, and two months later was sentenced to eight years for distribution of illegal drugs. Carter has served less than two and a half years of the eight-year prison sentence. Carter also was sentenced in 2008 in DeKalb County to four years for another drug conviction. Quadcitiesdaily.com reported Carter was arrested on Dec. 23, 2017 in Fort Payne for drug possession, drug paraphernalia and escape. Public records show he was granted probation at one point but violated the terms of his probation.
- Jeffie Lee Gable was sentenced in 2008 to 20 years in prison for first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in Mobile County. He has served about 11 years, nine months of the sentence.
- Wali Haseeb was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison for first-degree burglary in Mobile County. He has served 25 years, nine months of the life sentence.
- Jody Ray Burell is a violent offender serving time for theft. Burell was out of prison on parole from a robbery sentence when he was convicted in March 2019 of committing more crimes – two counts of theft of property in Tuscaloosa County — and sent back to prison for five years. He has served less than one and a half years of that sentence. Burell was convicted of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in Tuscaloosa County in 1994 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he was paroled from that sentence in 2013.
- Cedric Lee Manora was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in prison for first-degree robbery and seven years for distribution of a controlled substance, both in Tuscaloosa County. He has served less than 11 years of the 25-year sentence.
- Jonas Jermaine Smith is a convicted robber and burglar who was granted probation three times but continued to commit crimes. Smith most recently was sentenced, in May 2018, to 10 years in prison for third-degree burglary and receiving stolen property, both in Houston County. He has served about two years, three months of the 10-year prison sentence. On Nov. 28, 2017 he was cited for violating probation three times and sent back to confinement for 45 days. Two years earlier, he had been given three one-year sentences for two drug convictions and criminal possession of a forged instrument, all in Houston County. Smith was convicted of third-degree burglary and theft of property in 2011 and sentenced to a total of 11 years. He was sentenced in 2009 to four years for third-degree robbery.