Teen Gets 30 Years for Gun Possession

[StanSwitek]

I'm sure many of us remember this kid & are not suprised he is in trouble again. Mom, who is in LE continues to defend this thug. I bet she is fun to work with.

Fla. Teen Gets 30 Years for Gun Possession

By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Lionel Tate was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison for violating probation, the latest legal twist for the teenager convicted of murdering a 6-year-old girl in what his attorneys initially claimed was a pro wrestling move.
ADVERTISEMENT

In the latest case, Tate had faced 10 to 30 years in prison on charges of violating his probation by having a gun and robbing a pizza delivery man last year.

The judge on Thursday let him withdraw his guilty plea in the May 2005 robbery but still sentenced him on the gun charge. The robbery trial is set for Sept. 18.

Even defense attorney H. Dohn Williams didn't understand why Tate would want to go to trial on the robbery charge, given that a conviction could bring a life sentence in addition to the 30 years for the probation violation.

Tate could have simply received 30 years total for both charges under the deal.

"He continues to get bad advice from meddling third parties," Williams said outside court.

Williams said Tate's mother, Florida Highway Patrol trooper Kathleen Grossett-Tate, has told him he could win an appeal on the probation violation conviction, win his robbery case and leave jail in a year. She left court without commenting.

Tate, now 19, was convicted of beating Tiffany Eunick to death in 1999, when he was 12.

His murder conviction was overturned by an appeals court in 2004 after the panel found it wasn't clear whether Tate understood the charges. He was freed from prison under a deal in which he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years' probation.

[nitestokker]

I've always believed that kid was a piece of garbage and needed to be left in jail to rot. And momma Kathleen has only herself to blame for raising such an angel.

[Ducky]

Good! And would it be poetic justice if he died "wrestling" with a guy named Bubba who has a fetish for momma's boys??

[Piggybank Cop]

Any bets, this is the last we see of him?

[nitestokker]

Good! And would it be poetic justice if he died "wrestling" with a guy named Bubba who has a fetish for momma's boys??

THAT WOULD BE FUNNY!

[sflcop]

This will not be the last we see of him. May he stay there and rot there. His mom is an FHP Tropper and an embarassment to the profession.