Jesse Mathews is escorted into court in this file photo.
Ray Vance Mathews, father of Jesse Mathews, helped to arm him, police say.
Kathleen Mathews, mother of Jesse Mathews who was charged in the death of Chattanooga police Sgt. Tim Chapin last year.
Rachel Mathews, sister of Jesse Mathews, helped him flee Colorado, police say.The family of Jesse Mathews isn’t going to get any reduction in their federal sentences.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that plea agreements reached by Ray, Kathleen and Rachel Mathews and James Poteete bar any appeals of their sentences on multiple counts. The appellate opinion also denied that the sentences were wrongly imposed.
The family pleaded guilty to charges related to helping convicted robber Jesse Mathews escape a Colorado halfway house and move to Chattanooga. The family hid him, helped him travel and traded stolen weapons at a gun show for him.
Mathews was carrying one of those weapons April 2, 2011, when he tried to rob the U.S. Money Shops pawnshop on Brainerd Road. When police showed up, Mathews got in a shoot-out with Sgt. Tim Chapin and fatally shot the veteran officer.
Jesse Mathews pleaded guilty to murder in December and was sentenced to life without parole. Ray and Kathleen Mathews are serving 20 years and 30 years, respectively. Rachel Mathews and Poteete are serving 11 and six years, respectively, in the case.