A Monday sentencing hearing for a 24-year-old man who shot and killed another man in a botched drug deal was moved to Oct. 3.
In June, Jeremy M. Trueitt, 24, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the killing of Robert Cantrell on Feb. 20, 2009, during a drug deal. Prosecutors charged Trueitt with second-degree murder; he claimed the act was in self-defense.
Trueitt's attorney, Rich Heinsman, said the delay was the third requested by a backlogged probation office, which hasn't yet completed Truiett's sentencing report.
Trueitt faces three to six years for the manslaughter charge. In March, U.S. District Judge Harry "Sandy" Mattice sentenced him to nine years in federal prison for a weapons possession charge.
Heinsman said Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern would determine how much time his client would serve and whether it would be served at the same time as the federal charge or afterward.
Trueitt has been in custody since his 2009 arrest.
Todd South covers courts, poverty, technology, military and veterans for the Times Free Press. He has worked at the paper since 2008 and previously covered crime and safety in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Todd’s hometown is Dodge City, Kan. He served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before returning to school for his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Todd previously worked at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. Contact ...
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