William Jocoby Singletary could have been spending the next five years in prison. Instead, the 26-year-old Bladenboro resident was given a second chance under a plea agreement with the state.
Singletary was given a suspended sentence, placed on 30 months of supervised probation and ordered to perform 72 hours of community service on two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Prior to imposing the sentence Monday in Bladen County Superior Court, Judge Douglas B. Sasser called lawyers to the bench to discuss the agreement.
The charges against Singletary stemmed from a pair of traffic stops in February in Bladenboro where a firearm was found in the vehicle that Singletary was driving, according to a summary of the charges. Singletary was convicted in 2012 of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and spent 32 months in state custody.
“This is a teachable moment for Mr. Singletary,” said Kyle Melvin, who was Singletary’s lawyer. “He’s actually remorseful and would like to thank (the District Attorney’s) office for tendering the suspended sentence. He has a five-year-old child to support and the child’s mother is in the courtroom. I don’t think you will find him in the courtroom again.”
Assistant District Attorney Quintin McGee told the court that he “wanted Mr. Singletary to understand” the opportunity being given for him to “straighten up, to support his family. If there are any violations of probation, I will seek immediate revocation” of the agreement.
Sasser told Singletary that it was rare for this type of agreement to be offered on these charges and that was why he called the lawyers to the bench. “If there are any alleged problems brought before me, I want you to understand I will not hesitate to revoke (the agreement),” Sasser said. “I hope you make the best of it.”
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