Nearly six weeks after his capture in San Diego, California, by the US Marshals Office, James Gentry finally heard his sentence in the Trigg County Circuit Court. Wednesday afternoon Judge C.A. “Woody” Woodall III ordered him to life without parole in the first 25 years for a count of murder, and 20 years concurrent for a charge of first-degree burglary.
Woodall asked if he and his defense attorney, Michael Thompson, had made any time since his capture and extradition to review the pre-sentence investigation report.
Gentry said he hadn’t seen anything of the sort.
The retort comes months after Gentry failed to appear for the final day of his trial in Trigg County Circuit Court on July 27, when a jury needed only 34 minutes to return a guilty verdict (and even less to recommend a sentence) in the November 2018 murder of Christian County resident Joey Hayes — whose body was found in a barn off Buffalo Road in Eastern Trigg County.
Hayes had been shot five times, and among many details, police reported that a ring once in Hayes’ possession had been pawned by Gentry in Russellville.
Gentry had been free on reduced cash bond since March, and was required to wear an ankle monitor. That device was removed in Hopkinsville in the hours between the night of July 26 and the morning of July 27, and police alerted court officials that it had been found in the 2600 block of Cox Mill Road.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins had no further recommendations for Gentry’s sentence.
With 30 days to submit it, Thompson noted that Gentry will be filing an appeal, and that he’d be withdrawing from the case and as his attorney in the days ahead.
Woodall also noted on Wednesday that a charge for Gentry of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon is currently pending.
According to the Christian County Sheriff’s Office, its Anti-Crime Unit and Kentucky State Police worked in conjunction with the US Marshal Service to follow leads for Gentry’s eventual capture.
Per the Trigg County Fiscal Court in its financial statement released earlier this week, Gentry’s extradition and prisoner transport from San Diego cost more than $8,000.
