Judge Gives Man 18 Years on Gun Charges After Feds Accuse Him of Orchestrating a Murder

Darius Fields on Friday became the only person so far to be held accountable for events leading to the kidnapping and murder of 13-year-old Shavon Randle as revenge for a drug theft she had nothing to do with. It didn't come during a murder trial but at Fields' sentencing for an unrelated federal firearms conviction. That's because prosecutors wanted him to pay for a murder they couldn't charge him with. They accused him of orchestrating the grizzly crime under a controversial federal law that allows them to present evidence of uncharged crimes against defendants at their sentencing to justify longer prison terms. Taking into account that evidence, U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn gave Fields 18 years in prison -- higher than what the sentencing guidelines called for in the gun case. It was seven years short of what prosecutors had asked for: the 25-year maximum under the law. Lynn said she didn't hear evidence during the three-day sentencing hearing that Fields ordered the girl's murder. But she did say he was involved. "You had a role in it," Lynn told Fields about the June 2017 kidnapping. No one has been charged with the Lancaster girl's killing, which shocked Dallas and made headlines nationwide.   Continue reading...