Larry Donnel Batie knew he was going to prison Tuesday, but he wanted to see his ill sister before being sentenced.
So, he waited outside the Bladen County Courthouse as long as possible waiting her arrival before finally appearing before Superior Court Judge Douglas B. Sasser.
Fighting back tears and asking Sasser if he could see his sister, who, he said, is undergoing chemotherapy, Batie plead guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon under a plea agreement with the state. He was sentenced to 15 to 27 months in custody.
“She’s on her way here,” Batie told the judge. “They should be here at any time.”
Sasser went ahead with sentencing, but told Batie that, if approved by Bladen County Sheriff’s deputies in the courtroom, that he could have a brief visit with his sister after he had been processed into the Bladen County Jail.
Batie’s sister arrived near the end of his sentencing. The two were able to briefly meet near the courtroom after Batie was processed.
In a court summary, Batie’s sentence was the result of two firearms found in his car during a traffic stop in Bladenboro on Jan. 20, 2015. The vehicle he was driving was recorded going 55 mph in a 35 zone while driving through town. An officer detected the odor of marijuana in the vehicle. Batie and his passengers in the vehicle were asked to step out. Batie attempted to flee the scene on foot. One of the passengers said the passenger in the front seat tried to pass two firearms to the back seat, but the backseat passengers refused to take the firearms. The firearms were then hidden under the front seat.
Batie was a convicted felon after being charged in 2006 with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance in 2006 and later found guilty.
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