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Seven year sentence in drug sale case

(The following information was provided by Fifteenth Judicial District, Jason Lawson.)

A Smith County man has been sentenced to serve nine years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for a 2021 case in which he sold methamphetamine to a police informant working with the Fifteenth Judicial District Drug Task Force.  

Andrew Murray, 32, Dixon Springs, pled guilty in an open plea agreement after prosecutors and defense counsel were unable to agree upon an acceptable sentence in the case.  

When this occurs, the case is submitted to a special sentencing hearing before Judge Brody Kane.  

At the hearing, which was prosecuted by District Attorney General Jason Lawson, Judge Kane heard from a pre-sentence investigation officer called to testify by Lawson. 

The pre-sentence officer testified that Murray had one prior drug sale felony on his record and had multiple failed attempts at probation on other misdemeanor charges.  

As a result of this past behavior, Lawson argued that Murray was not a good candidate for alternative sentencing and should not be given another chance at probation.  

Lawson also argued that methamphetamine was a plague on the Smith County community, and that those who sell the drug should be held accountable for their actions.  

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Kane found that nine years was the appropriate length of the sentence and that given the past history of Murray, that the sentence should be in jail rather than granted an opportunity for probation.

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