A Laurel man with 10 children was facing 10 years in prison after a jury found him guilty for carrying a firearm illegally, but the judge cut him a bit of a break and challenged him to do better.
Myron Dakeem Brown, 34, was ordered to serve six years and six months in the full-time custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. That sentence was ordered by Judge Dal Williamson after jurors in Jones County Circuit Court deliberated for a little less than an hour before deciding he was guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon and not guilty of possession of a stolen firearm.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Sumrall told the jury that Brown had a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun concealed in his pants-leg when MDOC officers found him asleep in a car with three or four other guys in front of his residence on East 18th Street last January. The firearm had been stolen. Brown has a prior conviction for possession of methamphetamine, from June 2018, so he is prohibited from having or being in the presence of a firearm. Brown was on house arrest for the meth charge when MDOC officers went to check on him and found him in the car with the weapon.
Before sentencing Brown, the judge asked Sumrall and defense attorney Patrick Pacific if they had any information they wanted him to consider.
“House arrest didn’t seem to work out the first time,” Sumrall said.
Pacific pointed out that his client is a young man, plus, “He has 10 children, so he would like to get out sooner than later to take care of them.”
Williamson first said he wanted to talk to Brown “man-to-man” before sentencing.
“I thought today was going to be difficult,” the judge said, referring to the defendant’s demeanor, “but you’ve been polite and courteous throughout the trial.”
Williamson also referred to a portion of Brown’s video-taped interview with investigators.
“At one point, you sounded proud that you had held down a job at Peco for eight months ... I think that part of you wants to do right,” he said.
But he cautioned Brown to stay away from his old group of friends and mentioned his brother Rodrigus, 31, who is notorious for fighting with police — and is currently serving a four-and-a-half year sentence in MDOC for simple assault on an officer.
“You don’t have to be or act like your brother,” Williamson said. “All of your children need you to be a daddy to them. They should be No. 1 in your life.”
In addition to the prison time, Brown was ordered to serve 30 months on post-release supervision under MDOC and pay court costs of $2,427.50, which includes a $2,000 fine.
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