1 of 4 detainees who escaped Bibb County Jail gets a federal prison sentence. Here’s why.
One of the people who escaped the Bibb County Jail in 2023 was sentenced Wednesday to serve eight years for possessing a firearm once he was caught.
Chavis Stokes appeared in federal court Wednesday morning after he pleaded guilty on Oct. 9 to possessing firearms during his escape. Although his attorney, Tabitha Payne, attempted to argue a lesser sentence due to Stokes cooperating with officials after being caught, Judge Marc Treadwell ultimately sentenced him to eight years due to the severity of the crime.
Stokes will serve his eight years consecutively with multiple other cases in Bibb County Superior Court, which Treadwell said meant he “can’t calculate” how long his sentence would be for all his offenses. The Georgia Department of Corrections indicates he is serving five years for his escape case, 30 years for trafficking methamphetamine and 10 years for burglary.
Stokes was first escapee to be caught
Stokes, alongside Johnifer Barnwell, Marc Kerry Anderson and Joey Fournier, escaped the Bibb County Jail on Oct. 16, 2023, through an opening in the fence outside the jail.
The U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force was tipped on Oct. 26, 2023, that Stokes was in a single-wide trailer at 303 Shiloh Church Road in Montezuma, according to his plea agreement. The Marshals’ offices in Macon and Albany as well as the Georgia State Patrol showed up at the trailer at 2 p.m. to surround the home and apprehend Stokes. He opened the door and immediately laid face down in the doorway, according to the plea agreement.
Agents then noticed in plain view a shoulder bag on the coffee table with an AK-style magazine sticking out, the plea agreement said.
Investigators got a search warrant for the trailer, where agents found multiple phones, half a kilogram of marijuana and two firearms, the plea agreement said. There were also loaded magazines for the two firearms. No one else was present at the home.
Prosecutor: Agents were in an intense situation
Treadwell said during Wednesday’s hearing that sentencing guidelines would suggest Stokes should face six to eight years of prison time in this case. Payne requested a short sentence, saying Stokes had mental health issues which contributed to his criminal history — Payne said Stokes has bipolar disorder and was using drugs to self-medicate.
“It helped with some issues, but not with his impulse control,” Payne told Treadwell.
Payne said Stokes accepted responsibility and didn’t cause much trouble once he was caught.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Joy Odom, who prosecuted the case, said Stokes had a long criminal history and didn’t turn himself in during this investigation. Odom also said investigators who caught Stokes were in an “intense situation.” They didn’t know whether the rest of the escapees — two of whom were convicted of violent offenses — were in the trailer with him.
Odom said she appreciated that Stokes sat down with Odom during the beginning of the investigation to help attempt to locate other jail escapees. She still wanted Stokes to serve a sentence at the high end of the guidelines.
“This case is much more serious than the guideline suggests,” said Treadwell.
Treadwell said he would recommend that Stokes participate in the Residential Drug Abuse Program during his imprisonment.
