Crime

Watch as judge lectures ex-DA Mark Jones at Columbus plea deal sentencing

By Mike Haskey and Tim Chitwood

A visiting judge scolded suspended Columbus District Attorney Mark Jones before sentencing him to prison and handing down a fine in an arranged plea deal Monday morning.

Jones asked Judge Katherine Lumsden if he could turn himself in on Friday, but she declined and instead had him immediately placed into custody.

Jones, who also agreed to resign in the agreement, pleaded guilty to four charges in the nine-count public corruption indictment. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with four years suspended and one year to serve, along with a $1,000 fine.

Lumsden addressed Jones in the courtroom before she ordered him into police custody.

“I think you got so caught up in being the DA that you forgot about the people you ran to represent,” she told him.

You can listen to Lumsdem’s comments here.

Profile Image of Mike Haskey
Mike Haskey
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
706-761-1872
Michigan native Mike Haskey graduated in 1985 from Central Michigan University with a B.A.A. in journalism. Though trained as a photojournalist, Mike has embraced the industry’s always evolving multimedia demands by learning various video skills and more, including becoming the Ledger-Enquirer’s drone pilot. He’s served and lived in Columbus, GA, for more than 30 years.
Profile Image of Tim Chitwood
Tim Chitwood
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
706-571-8508
Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.
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