We have you in the system.

Post 0588

Cody James Curtis, Florida inmate Q72590, born 1999, incarceration intake January 2025 at age 25, scheduled for release August 2045

DUI Manslaughter, DUI Result in Serious Bodily Injury

In January 2025, a drunk driver who hit four people - killing one woman outside of a local restaurant was sentenced will spend 24 years in prison. 

Cody Curtis appeared in court and pleaded no contest, which means he's not admitting guilt, but accepting the punishment.

In April 2024, Curtis hit and killed 80-year-old Mary Lou Sharpe eating outside That BBQ Place in Matlacha. He also hit four other people. 

Troopers say his blood alcohol concentration was .137%. 

For his sentence, each charge's punishment will be served consecutively. For the DUI manslaughter charge, he has to serve four years mandatory. He was credited 268 days of time served for time spend in jail for pre-trial custody.

A judge has also suspended Curtis' license for the rest of his life. 

This case was drawn out because earlier in November 2023, Curtis asked for a new attorney stating that his court appointed attorney had made comments suggesting that 'drunk drivers should rot in prison', but that request was denied.

A day later his attorney filed a motion to withdraw as counsel, and the motion was granted.

A new attorney was appointed, and two months later at a case management conference he announced that he was switching his plea to a no contest plea.

On Friday January 31, 2025 he was discharged at 4:51am from the local county jail and transferred to the custody and control of the Florida DOC.

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Arthur Magana, Arizona inmate 351679, born 2002, incarceration intake December 2021 at age 19, sentenced to life with possibility of parole

Murder

Has was sentenced nearly three years after he was convicted of first degree murder.

Arthur Magana was convicted of first degree murder and armed robbery in November 2018. He was sentenced to a life in prison with the eligibility for parole after 25 years for the murder charge and given 1860 days credit for time already served in the Pinal County Jail.

Magana’s sentencing was continued after his trial because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime and the U.S. Supreme Court at the time was considering a case involving life sentences for juveniles.

According to 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision, people who were juveniles at the time of a crime cannot be sentenced to mandatory life without parole. In April 2021, the court decided that a judge no longer needed to find evidence of “permanent incorrigibility” before sentencing a defendant who was a juvenile at the time of a crime to life without parole.

Magana was convicted of killing Wyatt Miller, 20. Miller was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds inside his truck on Nov. 7, 2016.

Law enforcement believe Magana and his accomplice, Gustavo Olivo, arranged to meet Miller in order to buy marijuana and shot Miller in an armed robbery. The two men were tracked by their shoe prints to a nearby house where deputies found a trash bag with some drugs and cash.

Olivo later accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to armed robbery and second degree murder in 2019. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

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Post 0197

Adam Hawhee, Nebraska inmate 214517, born 1992, incarceration intake January 2022 at age 29, scheduled for release February 2045

Criminal Child Enticement, Possession of Child Porn

An Omaha man who fled the state to Nicaragua in order to escape criminal charges was sentenced for child enticement and child pornography.  Adam Hawhee, was sentenced to 48 years in prison after making a plea deal with prosecutors.

Court documents state Adam Hawhee pleaded no contest to two counts of child enticement and one count of failure to appear in court. In exchange for his plea, documents state, 22 of 26 child pornography counts against him were dropped along with a second charge of failure to appear in court.

Investigators say Hawhee approached two seven-year-old girls in a park last year which tipped off a deeper look into his possible criminal behavior.  Detectives then say they found more than 100 child pornography images at his home.

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Post 0196

Daylan Fargo, South Dakota inmate 62608, born 1993, incarceration intake May 2021 at age 28, released to parole June 2022 with full scheduled discharge August 2030

Solicitation of a Minor

A former Sioux Falls high school teacher accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student has cut a deal with prosecutors.

Daylan Scott Fargo pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Minnehaha County while two other charges in his indictment, sexual contact with a child under 16 and sexual exploitation of a minor, will be dropped. Also part of the plea agreement is a cap of five years prison sentence with additional suspended time possible.

Fargo, 27, was charged in January 2020 after the victim’s family went to police about the relationship, which began in 2017 when the student was 14.

Fargo had been an assistant show choir director at Washington High School and became friends with the victim, according to a factual basis read in court Tuesday. At one point, Fargo told the victim they could no longer be friends because they were getting “too close.”

Fargo later gave the student a tablet that contained sexually explicit photos. The student had deleted the photos, but detectives were able to recover them.

During a 2018 overnight show choir trip, the two exchanged sexually explicit photos. Fargo described the relationship as “loving” and “knew this day would come,” and told authorities he regretted it, according to the factual basis.

He was arrested in February 2020 at his parents’ residence in Hall County, Nebraska, about one week after a parent of a student at Washington High School filed a protection order against Fargo. The protection order alleges that the former assistant choir director had inappropriate contact with a teenager at the school and “stalked” the teenager at home.

Police began investigating the same day Fargo resigned, two days before the protection order was filed. Police initially said there were “inappropriate contact” between an adult and a teenager over a two-year period and that it involved “sending texts and pictures.”

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Post 0193

Aidan D Zellmer, Colorado inmate 184201, born 2001, incarceration intake March 2019 at age 17; sentenced to life with parole; parole eligible on May 2055

Murder (committed when aged 15)

In March 2019, a teenager who pleaded guilty to killing a 10-year-old Thornton Colorado girl was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Aidan Zellmer was charged as an adult in the June 2017 death, after they left her father’s home to go to a shopping center.  As part of a plea deal, Zellmer pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder.

“In 27 years as a prosecutor, I have never seen a 15-year-old commit such a violent act,” 17th Judicial District Attorney said.

Neighbors found her battered body in a ravine behind nearby homes the next day. She had been beaten to death, according to a Coroner’s Office autopsy report.

According to an affidavit released after the Judge imposed the mandatory sentencing. Zellmer and the victiml left the house to go steal Pokeman cards and candy.  The affidavit showed Zellmer hit the victim in the head five times with a metal pipe and dragged her into a ditch, leaving her there to die. The victim suffered multiple blunt-force injuries to the head as well as wounds to several fingers, according to the autopsy report.  The affidavit further reported that the victim’s body was found naked from the waist down and there was evidence of a sexual assault, though the sex crime charges were later dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Two days later, officers arrested Zellmer, who was 15 at the time using blood and DNA on his shoes that tied him to the murder.  His mother was in a relationship with the victim’s father at the time.

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Jared Chance, Michigan inmate 756132, born 1989, incarceration intake at age 30, scheduled earliest release date December 2118, with full release December 2218

Murder and dismemberment

In October 2019, a West Michigan man charged with death and dismemberment of a Kalamazoo County woman was sentenced to a term of 100 to 200 years.

A jury found Jared Chance guilty of second-degree murder, mutilation and concealing the body of Ashley Young. On Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, a Judge sentenced him to a minimum of 100 years to a maximum 200 years in prison. He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 130 years old.

“You sir in my mind are a very evil individual. You are clearly a monster without any conscience whatsoever and you are someone who is a danger to society and should never be allowed free,” the judge said.

Young was last seen alive at a Grand Rapids bar with Chance the night of Nov. 29, 2018. According to police, two days later, Chance’s neighbor discovered a body in the basement of their home on the 900 block of Franklin Street. Still to this day, her head and limbs have not been found.

Young’s parents, grandma, step-brother and best friend all had the chance to tell Chance, and the court, the impact Young’s murder has had on their lives.

“This is what’s left of my daughter. If I want a hug I have to hug a box and close my eyes and pretend that she is hugging me back. Because you chose to murder her. Because you chose to dismember her,” said Kristine Young, Ashley Young’s mother.

Young’s father addressed Chance in court, saying “I know what you did” and calling Chance an “evil man.”

Young’s family applauded when Trusock read Chance’s sentence.

Last photograph is most recent, dated May 2024.

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Post 0191

Tucker Robert Cipriano, Michigan inmate 823843, born 1993, incarceration intake July 2013 at age 20, sentenced to life without parole

Murder 

A man who pleaded no contest to beating his father to death with a baseball bat in their Farmington Hills home shed tears while reading a statement to the court before being sentenced to life in prison.

“My father was a great man and was there for me time and time again,” Tucker Cipriano said. “I want my dad back.”

Cipriano’s 5-minute statement, which he read off paper, recounted several things his parents had done for him while he was growing up.  "My family has done a great deal for me,“ he said. "I love you." Cipriano said he was stepping up to take responsibility for his actions.

"I’m sorry for paving the way for such violence,” he said.

The judge told Cipriano that he had been given the gift of a wonderful family who was there for him. "But you just weren’t willing to help yourself,“ she told Cipriano. "You’ve ruined your life, you’ve ruined the lives of people who did nothing but love you.”

The Judge then sentenced Cipriano to the presumptive penalty of life in prison without parole.

(Last Image in the series dated September 2023). 

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Post 0190

Austin Holford, Colorado inmate 168838, born 1995, incarceration intake May 2015 at age 19, scheduled for parole in September 2053, scheduled release date November 2067

Murder 

In a dispute over an x-box a 19-year-old was sentenced to 56 years in jail for beating a disabled man to death for his Xbox. Austin Holford, of Boulder in Colorado, beat Aaron Tuneberg, 30, with a baseball bat and a golf club at his Boulder apartment on March 31 last year and then stole his Xbox. Mr Tuneberg died from severe head injuries a week after the brutal attack.

Holford told police he wanted to sell the games console so he could leave Boulder.  

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree assault on an at-risk victim and two counts of aggravated burglary and could have been imprisoned for a maximum of 70 years.

Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler said the 56-year sentence was a balancing act between punishing him and giving him a chance at rehabilitation.  He said: ‘Only Mr Holford will determine what will happen to him while he is in incarceration.’  

Holford spoke briefly at the hearing, addressing the Tuneberg family while at the defense table.  He said: 'I pray for them every morning and every night and Aaron’s face is the last thing I see every night before I go to sleep.  'I will never forget his face, or the looks from his family that I deserve.’  Mr Tuneberg’s mother, Gale Boonstra, said the sentencing finally gave the family some closure.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean Finn told Boulder County Court how Holford was an 'incredibly dangerous person’ with a criminal history who had shown little remorse for the murder.  

But defense attorney Eric Zale asked for a 'little bit of light at the end of the tunnel’ so he could have some life after prison.  Zale said he visited Holford’s childhood home in Arizona, where Zale said he was abused and beaten and stuck in the juvenile criminal system.

'Austin Holford was born to a life that few of us can imagine and all of us wish didn’t exist,’ Zale said. 'From the moment he was born, he was not given a chance. He was failed by his parents, he was failed by the Arizona system, he was failed by society.’

Hours before Holford’s sentencing, a second suspect in the case, Luke Pelham (Colorado inmate 168912), aged 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree assault on an at-risk individual and aggravated robbery.

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Post 0189

Jacob “Looney Loc” Looney, Florida inmate K93656, born February 23, 1998, incarceration intake May 2018 at age 20, initially scheduled for release May 2045

Died in Custody November 19, 2024 (undisclosed)

1st degree attempted murder, burglary

The St. Lucie County man convicted of stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her mother in August 2015 will spend 30 years behind bars and then 5 years on probation.

His ex-girlfriend, Arielle Preito, who nearly died in the attack, said after court that this violent incident still haunts her and her family.  “I still struggle, emotionally, mentally with things like just depression, anxiety sometimes we don’t sleep as well, but things are definitely a lot better.“

They revealed in court that Looney had been trying to contact her from jail as recently as Hurricane Irma. The family said they had to block the number of the St. Lucie County jail.

Looney himself spoke to the court, now aged 20, but aged 17 at the time of the event, and addressed each victim and the horrific nature of the attack. However, he stopped short of an out right apology.  He did address his own mental health issues that he struggles with. He told the judge that he had been to New Horizons (a mental health provider) several times before the attack and wants to get better.

“Sir, I was not okay by any means. I was depressed confused and not sure where my life was going,” said Looney.  “But sir, during that time, it never crossed my mind to hurt anyone. I never wanted or meant to hurt the Prieto family. And sir, when I get my family and I will be leaving the state if permissible by you judge.”

The judge made it clear that had Looney been older at the time of the attack or had a criminal record, his sentence would have been even harsher.

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Post 0188

Andrew Michael “Screech” Fiacco, Michigan inmate 364765, born 1997, incarceration intake March 2019 at age 21,  earliest release date April 2069

Murder

Stephen McAfee was missing for more than a year before his mutilated body was found. Andrew Fiacco was sentenced to at least 52 years in prison for the murder and dismemberment of 19-year-old McAfee.

The prosecutor and judge felt the crime warranted a longer sentence and the McAfee family was afraid Fiacco might kill again. There was little room for interpretation inside the Macomb County courtroom – The McAfee family wanted Fiacco to be locked up for as long as possible.

McAfee vanished three years prior. Court documents claim Fiacco drove McAfee to an empty field, shot him in the head and then cut up his body and buried his remains.  Fiacco’s attorney argued he acted in self-defense.

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Post 0187

Brian A Anthony, Ohio offender A761892, born 1994, incarceration intake April 2019 at age 25, projected release June 2029.

Murder, hit and run, causing the death of a LEO

In April 2918, Brian Anthony, the man who struck and killed a Mentor Ohio Police Officer was sentenced to 11.5 years in prison.

In March 2019, Anthony, 25, changed his not guilty plea to guilty on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence, failing to proceed with due caution and/or failure to change lanes when approaching a stationary public safety vehicle displaying emergency lights, and one count of failing to stop after a crash.  A Judge sentenced Anthony to maximum amount of time allowed by law.

“Obviously I think that based on his character throughout life and the scenario and what happened here, I felt the sentence was heavy,” said the defense attorney.  Prosecutors said Anthony had heroin, fentanyl, codeine, ethanol and other derivatives of fentanyl in his urine during the time of the crash.

The police officer died in June 2018 while assisting another officer on a traffic stop. He was standing outside of a police cruiser when he was struck by a Jeep Wrangler driven by Anthony.

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TJ James Tremble, Michigan inmate 260818, born 1982, incarceration intake at age 15, earliest release date December 2033, discharge date March 2050

Murder

Convicted of murdering an older couple in 1997 when he was 14.   He killed a sleeping couple and stole their car in Arenac County.  He was initially sentenced to life.

In 2022, his sentenced was reconsidered.  A judge gave T.J. Tremble a new sentence, the result of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that struck down automatic life sentences for teens who commit murder.

Tremble will be eligible for parole after serving at least 40 years in prison.

The Judge said a psychologist found that Tremble had been rehabilitated and was capable of further improvement, although he declined to resentence him to a 25-year minimum, another option.

“These types of cases have immense collateral damage,” the Judge said. “There are so many people that are impacted by the defendant’s behavior.”

Tremble was an eighth-grader in 1997 when he rode his bike to the Au Gres home of Ruth and Peter Stanley and killed them while they slept. He took some change and their car.

“With this resentencing due to a Supreme Court ruling, this is all we could ask for,” said the victims’ son. “This is the best it could be for us. Sure, we wish it would be life without parole, but we have to respect the law and we will live with it.”

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