From home incarceration to behind bars

A 32-year old Walhalla area man enjoyed only two days of freedom after his first court appearance of the week.  On Monday, Joshua Blake Gray pleaded guilty to grand larceny and receiving stolen goods.  Judge Sprouse ordered a five-year prison sentence, but suspended prison time.  Instead the judge ordered restitution and placed Gray on five years’ probation and allowed him one year of home incarceration.  But Gray’s freedom turned out to be short-lived.  He was back in court this morning, in jail attire, having been arrested Wednesday in Anderson County.  Assistant solicitor Jason Alderman said the new charges against Gray are trafficking in cocaine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  Hearing that, Sprouse re-sentenced Gray to one year in prison.  The judge offered the defendant a chance to speak, but he declined.  A lawyer on Gray’s behalf appealed to Sprouse to keep the original sentence intact, saying that his side is not completely abreast of what allegedly happened in Anderson County that led to Gray’s arrest on Wednesday.