Staff Reports
Shon Phillips of Atmore was among those denied parole during Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles hearings on March 11.
Phillips began in 2018 serving a sentence of 65 months (5-1/2 years) in prison after his conviction for distribution of a controlled substance.
Some may remember Phillips for his outstanding basketball career at Escambia County High School. In 1999, he earned honorable mention on the Alabama Sportswriters Association Class 5A All-State Basketball Team. He helped lead the Blue Devils to a 27-5 record and the Area 2 championship during the 1998-99 season.
He has served approximately a year and five months of the sentence. Contingent on his continued good behavior, he will be eligible for release on September 23, 2020.
Phillips is doing his time at Loxley Community Work Center, which houses “low risk/minimum custody inmates who perform community service work for state, county and city agencies.”
Lifers also denied
Two other inmates, each of whom are serving life sentences (listed by ADOC officials as “999 years, 99 months, 99 days”) for convictions in numerous counties, including Escambia, were also denied parole.
James Lynn Williams, who first entered the Alabama prison system in 1974, is serving his term at medium-custody Bullock Correctional Facility, near Union Springs. He was convicted in Bessemer of first-degree assault, in Elmore County of grand larceny, and in Tuscaloosa County of first-degree rape, first-degree and second-degree burglary and assault with intent to murder. He was out on parole when the Tuscaloosa County rape occurred.
Williams was also charged and convicted in Escambia County, while at Fountain Correctional Facility, on charges of first-degree possession of marijuana, second-degree escape and criminal destruction of state property.
Carl Douglas White Jr., whose criminal history dates back to 1993, is serving time for trafficking in methamphetamines in Cleburne County, distribution of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance in Talladega County, first-degree and second-degree theft in Marshall County, possession of a controlled substance and second-degree escape in Franklin County and possession of a controlled substance in Marshall County.
White, who is housed at Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio, is also serving time on an Escambia County conviction for promoting prison contraband while he was at Fountain CI.
More than 100 parole hearings that were scheduled for this week were postponed due to coronavirus concerns. No hearings were set for next week due to spring break.