Aug 31, 2007 2:17 pm US/Central
N. Texas Truck Hijacker Gets Life In Prison
DALLAS (AP) ―
A man accused of hijacking a truck, holding the driver hostage and leading police on a three-hour chase has been sentenced to life in prison and won't be eligible for parole for the next 30 years.
After deliberating for five hours, jurors on Thursday sentenced Samuel Scott Jones, 33, of Dallas, on two charges for the July 2006 incident involving truck driver Christie Bundren McKindra.
Jones, who had already pleaded guilty to the charges, received 99 years for an aggravated assault charge and life for a kidnapping charge. The sentences will be served concurrently.
Police say the hijacking was the culmination of a series of crimes, and Jones still faces additional charges from carjackings that led up to the truck chase.
Authorities ended the chase by shooting at the engine block and disabling the truck. After a one-hour standoff, McKindra and her dog ran to safety before Jones surrendered.
"I'm sorry for what he got, but he had choices," McKindra said after the sentencing. "There are others out there who have a rough life. But he had no right to do that."
Mitch Nolte, one of Jones' defense attorneys, said his client suffered from depression.
"He is not a mastermind criminal," Nolte said. "He's more of a bumbler. This was a very disorganized, unplanned episode."
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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