Walker denied parole, will serve out sentence
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
DATE
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/walker-denied-parole-will-serve-out-sentence/article_3e259ec0-5b12-11e7-8246-10604b9f0f42.html
Former Paducah Middle School Assistant Principle Jerry Walker was denied parole Thursday after his case went before the Department of Corrections parole board.
Walker, 40, is currently serving a three-year sentence at the McCracken County Jail after he was convicted in April on charges of perjury, tampering with physical evidence and witness tampering.
The charges stem from allegations that he fabricated evidence and lied while testifying before a Kentucky Department of Education tribunal in 2013 while appealing his termination from the middle school for having an affair.
Walker was sentenced to an additional 365 days in Calloway County on similar charges, which he will serve when his time in McCracken is completed.
Those charges stem from six letters Walker wrote in 1998 when he was a student at Murray State and suspected of starting a dorm fire that killed one student and injured several others. The letters, according to Commonwealth Attorney Mark Blankenship, accused other people of starting the blaze and derailed law enforcement's investigation.
Walker received a 10-year diverted sentence as part of his plea agreement, which stipulated the charges would be dropped after five years if Walker stayed out of trouble and adhered to certain conditions.
That agreement was violated on April 1 with Walker's McCracken County conviction.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee said when considering Walker's case, the parole board had three options: "they could grant parole, they could defer their decision until a later date, or they could order a serve out, meaning he has to serve his full sentence."
The parole board decided Walker should serve the remainder of his sentence, according to the Department of Corrections offender information site.
"There's a few things they consider when deciding whether to grant parole," McGee said.
"The seriousness of the offense is one, and they also consider if there are violations of any previous court orders or agreements. So they would have considered that he was on a diversion agreement (in Calloway County) and then violated that agreement (in McCracken County), doing the exact same offense."
With time off for good behavior, the website shows Walker could be released from McCracken County Jail as soon as July 2, 2018, after serving approximately two years. The site also shows Walker's latest release date could be May 1, 2019.
Walker, 40, is currently serving a three-year sentence at the McCracken County Jail after he was convicted in April on charges of perjury, tampering with physical evidence and witness tampering.
The charges stem from allegations that he fabricated evidence and lied while testifying before a Kentucky Department of Education tribunal in 2013 while appealing his termination from the middle school for having an affair.
Walker was sentenced to an additional 365 days in Calloway County on similar charges, which he will serve when his time in McCracken is completed.
Those charges stem from six letters Walker wrote in 1998 when he was a student at Murray State and suspected of starting a dorm fire that killed one student and injured several others. The letters, according to Commonwealth Attorney Mark Blankenship, accused other people of starting the blaze and derailed law enforcement's investigation.
Walker received a 10-year diverted sentence as part of his plea agreement, which stipulated the charges would be dropped after five years if Walker stayed out of trouble and adhered to certain conditions.
That agreement was violated on April 1 with Walker's McCracken County conviction.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee said when considering Walker's case, the parole board had three options: "they could grant parole, they could defer their decision until a later date, or they could order a serve out, meaning he has to serve his full sentence."
The parole board decided Walker should serve the remainder of his sentence, according to the Department of Corrections offender information site.
"There's a few things they consider when deciding whether to grant parole," McGee said.
"The seriousness of the offense is one, and they also consider if there are violations of any previous court orders or agreements. So they would have considered that he was on a diversion agreement (in Calloway County) and then violated that agreement (in McCracken County), doing the exact same offense."
With time off for good behavior, the website shows Walker could be released from McCracken County Jail as soon as July 2, 2018, after serving approximately two years. The site also shows Walker's latest release date could be May 1, 2019.
