Wright gets 29 months
in Thursday plea deal

Billie Jay Wright was sent to prison for a minimum of 29 months Thursday afternoon after his bond hearing turned into a plea deal.

Wright pleaded to several felony and misdemeanor crimes that took place in the past 13 months, and his maximum stay in prison will 35 months with good behavior.

The 20-year-old from Tabor City kept asking for Superior Court Judge Jack Hooks Jr. to only sentence him to an agreed upon 24 to 30 months, and let a discretionary term of 150 days be served concurrently.

But Hooks was not swayed by Wright’s repeated requests, nor did the judge honor requests by Wright’s attorney R.C. Soles Jr. or a second attorney Mike Willis, who spoke “as a friend of the defendant.”

Wright appearance was to be one asking for Hooks to set a bond. Wright had been jailed under a “no bond” order last Friday after he failed to appear on Thursday, Feb. 8, to enter another plea deal.

Hooks also refused to recommend work release as part of Wright’s sentence. “Because I deny it doesn’t mean you can’t get work release. They can give it to you if they think you earn it,” the judge noted.

(Read more about Wrights’ nearly hour long courtroom appearance in the Monday, Feb. 19, issue)