Press release
A Henderson County jury sentenced an Athens man to 60 years in the Texas Department of Corrections on January 10, 2018. Stephen Duane Roberts, age 45, was arrested on January 20, 2017 by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force.
Investigator Josh Rickman of the Sheriff’s Office secured a search warrant to search Robert’s home on Williams Street in Athens. When the warrant was executed, deputies found almost 20 grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, Xanax, ecstasy, and other prescription pills. Roberts was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver and was indicted by a Henderson County Grand Jury in March of last year.
In the trial that began on Tuesday, January 9, Assistant District Attorneys Jessica Bargmann and Daniel Cox presented evidence and testimony from Investigator Rickman and other Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputies, as well as a woman that was in the home when the warrant was executed.
That woman testified that she had been living with Roberts for the preceding six weeks, and had used drugs numerous times while living in the home. She also testified that up to 40 or 50 people a day would come by the home to buy drugs.
After an hour and twenty minutes of deliberations, the jury found Roberts guilty. The trial, held before Judge Mark Calhoon of the 3rd District Court, then proceeded to the sentencing phase. Because of his criminal history, the sentencing range for Roberts was a minimum 25 years up to life imprisonment.
Roberts’s criminal history included two convictions for possession of drugs, one conviction for possession of drugs with intent to deliver, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful carrying of a weapon, DWI, and assault, among other offenses. He was on parole for the felon in possession of a firearm charge when arrested for this offense.
In his closing argument to the jury, Assistant District Attorney Cox stated, “Prison will not rehabilitate this man. He has been to prison three times already and keeps committing crimes. The only way to stop him from committing crimes in the future is to sentence him to prison for a significant amount of time.”
The jury deliberated and sentenced Roberts to 60 years in prison. District Attorney Mark Hall said, “The Henderson County Sheriff’s personnel that made the case and the attorneys who tried it for the State all did an excellent job. I think that the sentence handed down by the jury reveals a clear statement to offenders that we are tired of illegal drugs permeating our community and destroying lives in the process, and if two or more stints in the pen don’t bring about a change in behavior, then this will be the result.”
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