Judge wishes “model prisoner” good luck

After more than one thousand days in jail, a young Oconee criminal defendant may return to society with the likelihood he’ll able to obtain gainful employment and the expectation that a past drug problem will remain in the past.  Judge Sprouse yesterday in General Sessions Court wished Cory Adam Whitten good luck, after accepting the defendant’s guilty pleas and the prosecution’s recommendation of a suspended prison sentence.  Whitten pleaded guilty to grand larceny and non-violent burglary second degree, an incident in 2018 in which he burglarized a Lake Hartwell home and stole an expensive boat.  The sentence handed down: 10 years in prison, suspended to one year house incarceration, followed by five years’ probation, subject to testing for substance abuse.  Whitten said his troubles started with drugs at a time of a split from his wife.  However, while in jail (for 1,792 days days) defense lawyer William Norman Epps III said his client became a model prisoner attaining vocational certification and credits in a South Carolina Ready for Work Program.  Whitten will live in Anderson County, where his parents and brother operate businesses for which he can expect to be employed.