Jerrod Morris

A Fulton man was sentenced to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on Wednesday in Howard County Circuit Court. Jerrod Morris, 48, pleaded guilty on January 8 to one charge of unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class D felony.

Deborah Riekhof, prosecuting attorney for Howard County, asked Judge Scott Hayes to hand down a sentence of 10 years in prison. “The defendant is not a good candidate for probation,” she told the court. Morris has a lengthy criminal history.

Public defender Robert Flemming, argued that Morris’s criminal past does not consist of violent offenses.

Riekhof, however, explained that Morris’s prior convictions include felony possession of a firearm and domestic assault. Judge Hayes, in determining the sentence, outlined prior convictions such as possession of a firearm while intoxicated and the illegal taking of wildlife, while a misdemeanor, is a crime committee with a weapon. The judge said that Morris “is exactly the kind of person who should not have a gun in his pocket.”

Morris is already serving a sentence of five years in prison after his probation was revoked for second-degree burglary, drug possession, domestic assault, and stealing, among other offenses.