Former Hamilton County Sheriff Billy Long is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 27 on several counts of extortion, money laundering, gun and drug charges.

Mr. Long was originally set to be sentenced Aug. 18, but defense attorney Jerry Summers requested that the date be changed because of a scheduling conflict.

Mr. Long pleaded guilty May 5 in the wake of a federal sting in February that revealed the former sheriff had taken more than $23,000 in illegal payoffs from convenience store shakedowns and alleged drug trafficking proceeds. He also was recorded giving a gun to someone he knew to be a convicted felon and taking part in a cocaine transaction.

Mr. Long faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in a federal prison on the drug charge alone. Mr. Summers is trying to convince a federal judge that Mr. Long qualifies for the “safety valve,” a mechanism in federal sentencing guidelines that eradicates the mandatory minimum if defendants meet certain criteria such as having no criminal history.

Mr. Summers also is alleging that the government’s confidential informant, the Rev. C. Eugene Overstreet, who helped bring Mr. Long down, has a “manipulative personality” that caused Mr. Long to participate in illegal activities he otherwise would never have participated in.

Mr. Summers says Mr. Overstreet was paid $18,300 for helping investigators. Mr. Overstreet, in an interview with the Times Free Press, said he never received any payment for helping the government build their case against Mr. Long.

Citing “entrapment,” Mr. Summers said he hopes the court will consider the circumstances of the drug transaction as a mitigating factor during the sentencing hearing.

Comments