By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
The Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles, during its recent hearings, denied early release for a Brewton man who has served just over three years of a 20-year sentence handed down after his second statutory rape conviction within a six-year period.
Mark Brandon Thompson is serving time for having sexual relations with a person who was between the ages of 12 and 16 years at the time and at least two years younger than he. He was convicted of the same charge in 2017, so he is now also doing time for violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Thompson served all but a day or two of a 5-year sentence he was handed in 2017, when he was convicted of second-degree rape and promoting prison contraband. The rape conviction required him to register as a sex offender.
His first stint in state prison came in 2007, when Thompson was one of three men when agents of a regional drug task force — including police from Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton and Flomaton — raided a Crook Road residence in December 2004 and discovered an operating meth lab inside.
Thompson was initially charged with unlawful possession of meth, unlawful manufacturing of meth and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia but was allowed to plead guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance in exchange for an 18-month sentence, of which he served all but two days.
He is currently housed at Bullock Correctional Facility and will not be released from prison until February 3, 2037 unless he is granted parole or a pardon.