More Prison Time For Former Top Cop

A U.S. judge has sentenced former Mendenhall Police Chief James “Jimbo” Sullivan to two and a half years in federal prison for brutally beating a man after a high speed chase.

U.S. Marshals escorted Sullivan in shackles from the federal courthouse in downtown Jackson after he was handed his sentence.  He admitted using excessive force against Damalous Bouldin.  Sullivan pulled Bouldin from his car following a police chase in 2005 and stomped on him while he was lying face-down on a street.

Sullivan plead guilty and admitted to beating Bouldin.  In a written statement, Sullivan told the court he was sorry for what he’d done, and he asked for forgiveness.

“We think that this sends the message that the Department of Justice is serious about enforcing the civil rights of citizens here in the U.S. and that’s a very important thing,“ said Carlton Reeves, Bouldin’s attorney.  “We think he’s now come to the realization that he committed civil rights violations, and we think he understands the magnitude of his conduct.“

Judge Henry Wingate handed down a sentence that was harsher than what prosecutors requested because he questioned the motive behind Sullivan’s guilty plea.  He has yet to rule on restitution.

Sullivan is already in prison on a state conviction for aggravated assault.  He will serve his new sentence concurrently with that four year sentence.

Sullivan was on paid leave for more than a year beginning in March 2007 when he was accused of having sex with a teenage girl.  He was drawing more than $32,000 a year.
   

Last November, his attorneys filed paperwork to have him officially removed from office.  A month earlier, when his third trial on sexual battery charges was about to begin, the 50-year-old pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the case involving a 14-year-old girl.

He was sentenced to four years and was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines, $1,000 to the victim’s compensation fund, and court costs..

Sullivan’s first two trials ended with hung juries.