UPDATE July 31, 2017
Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill, Sr. sentenced 40-year-old Christopher Butler Friday to 30 years in prison without parole and $500,000 in fines. By law, Butler was sentenced to the maximum 24 years for being a habitual offender. Judge Weill added six years to that because Butler is a repeat drug offender. Butler was found guilty by a Hinds County trial jury Wednesday on one count of possession of marijuana.
“Christopher Butler is a career criminal who has met his match through this sentence,” said General Hood. “I appreciate the service of the jury and thank Judge Weill for his work.”
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics executed a search warrant on Butler’s home in April 2011 and found approximately four pounds of marijuana hidden in furniture. During the search, MBN agents also found a home security camera system that recorded activity within the home. The Hinds County District Attorney’s office recused itself from the case in 2016 due to a conflict of interest and the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division was appointed special prosecutor.
The jury was shown the video footage from Butler’s DVR which showed Butler handling the drugs, selling drugs, counting large stacks of cash and storing the cash. The cash was seized and totaled at $77,938.
Butler was tried as an habitual offender. He has previously been convicted of possession of marijuana twice and he has also been convicted of motor vehicle theft. Additional pending charges include possession of six pounds of marijuana from 2012 and possessing a cell phone while incarcerated in 2016.
July 28, 2017
Christopher Butler has been convicted for possessing approximately four pounds of marijuana.
Butler, 40, of Hinds County, was found guilty by a Hinds County trial jury Wednesday on one count of possession of marijuana. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill, Sr. scheduled a sentencing hearing for Friday, July 28, at 10:30 a.m.
The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics executed a search warrant on Butler’s home in April 2011 and found approximately four pounds of marijuana hidden in furniture. During the search, MBN agents also found a home security camera system that recorded activity within the home. The Hinds County District Attorney’s office recused itself from the case in 2016 due to a conflict of interest and the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division was appointed special prosecutor.
The jury was shown the video footage from Butler’s DVR which showed Butler handling the drugs, selling drugs, counting large stacks of cash and storing the cash. The cash was seized and totaled at $77,938.
Butler was tried as an habitual offender. He has previously been convicted of possession of marijuana twice and he has also been convicted of motor vehicle theft. Additional pending charges include possession of six pounds of marijuana from 2012 and possessing a cell phone while incarcerated in 2016. Butler faces between 24 and 48 years in prison and must serve his sentence day-for-day without the possibility of parole for the conviction handed down by the jury yesterday.
“This career criminal has come to the end of the line,” said General Hood. “I appreciate the Court and the Hinds County Jury for holding Butler accountable.”
