By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Four state inmates with local ties, including an Atmore man and a convict who escaped from state custody briefly during a work detail in Atmore more than a dozen years ago, were denied parole during recent hearings held by the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles.
Damian Lamont Mackey, 43, is serving a 20-year sentence that resulted from his 2006 conviction in Escambia County on two counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of first-degree robbery.
The inmate, currently housed at Ventress Correctional Facility, has served almost 17 years behind bars, including 354 days in the county jail. His minimum release date, without parole or a pardon, is June 24, 2025.
Mackey was convicted in Montgomery County in 2000 on two counts of second-degree robbery. He was sentenced to 15 years but was released after serving less than five, having accumulated more than 10 years of “good time” during that stretch.
Also turned down for parole was John Paul Rice, who has served almost eight years of a 10-year sentence handed down in Baldwin County in 1987 for robbery, burglary and receiving stolen property. Ten years later, he was sentenced as a habitual offender to life with the possibility of parole after his conviction, also in Baldwin County, on charges of first-degree burglary and receiving stolen property.
Rice, now housed at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, drew an additional 15 years after he and another Fountain CF inmate slipped away from a work detail on Ridgeley Street in Atmore in 2008. The escapees enjoyed about a week of freedom before a Crimestoppers tip led to their recapture in Escambia County, Fla.
He will be eligible for parole consideration again in 2026.
After a series of continuations, two local men were finally granted parole hearings, but the lengthy waits apparently did nothing to help their respective chances.
Both Rayvon Desha Madison of Atmore and Shawn Daniel Mealer of Brewton were turned down by the board after having waited several months for scheduled hearings to take place.
The board reached its decision on Madison, 31, after three previous continuances. He will remain at Limestone Correctional Facility for at least five more years.
The Atmore man was convicted in 2018 in Escambia County of second-degree domestic violence and sentenced to serve 15 years. He has been behind bars for slightly more than three years, including 139 days in the county jail.
Madison, who has accumulated 2,365 days of “good time,” has a minimum release date — without pardon or parole — of November 29, 2022.
Mealer’s bid for parole was rejected after his hearing had been continued five times previously. The 32-year-old inmate will remain at Easterling Correctional Facility.
He was convicted in Escambia County in 2019 of first-degree theft and was given a 15-year sentence. He has served just over two years, including 168 days in jail, but has amassed more than three years (1,433 days) of “good time.”
His minimum release date without parole or a pardon is March 18, 2023.