Greenwood, MS – On February 10, 2020, after a multi-day sentencing hearing, Leflore County Circuit Judge Margaret Carey-McCray sentenced twenty-three-year-old Georgia native Jordan Phillip Johnson in the armed robbery of Hiram Eastland, Jr., the commercial burglary of his law office, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the armed robbery of Richard Logan, and two separate cases of possession of contraband in the Leflore County Jail.
Officers with the Greenwood Police Department responded expeditiously after hearing shots being fired. Jordan was apprehended with a gun in his possession after being seen running towards Davis Elementary School. Officers then received word that Hiram Eastland, Jr. had been held at gunpoint at his law office and had his wallet stolen. Upon arrival, officers noticed that there were bullet holes in Eastland’s office window and that the back-sliding glass door had been broken due to gunshots. Because he had a prior conviction out of Georgia, he was indicted as a felon in possession of a firearm in addition to the armed robbery of Eastland and the commercial burglary of his law office as he broke into the law office with the intent to rob Eastland.
A month prior to the armed robbery of Eastland, officers with the Greenwood Police Department responded to a robbery of Richard Logan on Avenue G in Greenwood. Johnson stopped Logan under the guise that Logan’s girlfriend owed Johnson some money. After Logan refused to pay Johnson any money, Johnson threatened Logan with a gun and took items out of his truck.
While Johnson was awaiting his court dates in pre-trial detention, jail administrators and officials with the Leflore County Jail and Sheriff Department on two separate occasions found multiple cell phones and charging cords among Johnson’s property and in the light fixture in his jail cell. This led to his multiple charges of possession of contraband in the jail because inmates are not allowed to possess any of those items while incarcerated.
In Mississippi, the crime of armed robbery carries a minimum penalty of three (3) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections (“MDOC”), and the maximum penalty is a term of years less than a life sentence in MDOC. There is no minimum penalty for commercial burglary, but the maximum penalty is seven (7) years in MDOC. Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon has a minimum penalty of one (1) year and a maximum penalty of ten (10) years be served in MDOC. The crime of possession of contraband in the jail carries a minimum penalty of three (3) years in MDOC and a maximum penalty of fifteen (15) years in MDOC.
Johnson pled guilty to all of the crimes charged and chose to plead open requesting leniency from the court rather than accepting the State’s recommended sentence. Before sentencing Johnson, Judge McCray considered his background and upbringing going so far as to hear testimony from his mother and father.
Johnson was subsequently sentenced as a habitual offender to serve a term of twenty (20) years on the armed robbery of Eastland, seven (7) years on the commercial burglary of his law office, ten (10) years on the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Each of those sentences are to run concurrently or at the same time.
On the armed robbery of Richard Logan, Judge McCray sentenced Johnson to serve twenty (20) years, fifteen (15) of those years are to be served concurrently to his other sentences, but the remaining five (5) years are suspended upon completion of five (5) years of post-release supervision are to run consecutively to his other sentences.
Judge McCray then sentenced Johnson as a habitual offender to four separate sentences of fifteen (15) years on the possession of contraband in the jail, all to run concurrently with each other and with his other sentences. As a habitual offender, Johnson will serve the entirety of his sentences. In total, Johnson will serve twenty (20) years in MDOC and once released will serve five (5) years on post-release supervision. During his time in MDOC, Judge McCray ordered that he complete the GED program as well as multiple assessments for drug and alcohol abuse, anger management, and vocational programs that are offered through MDOC.
Both Eastland and Judge McCray expressed their interest in the rehabilitation of Johnson while he served his sentence and that he becomes a productive member of society once he is released at age 43.
Contact: W. Dewayne Richardson District Attorney, Fourth Circuit Court District | 662-378-2105