TEEN GETS 10 YEARS FOR DRUGS

Cocaine Trafficker Is A First-Time Offender, But Sentence Is Mandatory

Keir L. Hall was 18 years old when he sold a sheriff's informant $200 worth
of cocaine.

He'll have 10 years in prison to regret his crime -- and most of his adult
life to pay a mandatory $200,000 fine that accompanied the prison sentence
he received Friday from Muscogee Superior Court Chief Judge Kenneth Followill.

Assistant District Attorney Crawford Seals said Hall, who pleaded guilty to
trafficking in cocaine and sale of cocaine, made the sale to a Muscogee
County Sheriff's Department undercover informant Oct. 25. When officers
later went into the apartment from which Hall made the sale, they found 76
grams of cocaine -- almost 3 ounces -- along with scales for measuring
drugs and $3,000 in cash.

"Keir has admitted what he did from day one, and he's been in jail ever
since," defense attorney Dave Roberts told Followill. Although Hall of 3113
Cherokee Ave. in Columbus has no prior record, he has no choice except to
plead guilty and accept the mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, he said.

"It's a sad situation, but the General Assembly has decided that's what the
sentence should be," Followill said.

The judge noted that he has no discretion in the matter and is required to
follow the sentence laid out by Georgia's mandatory sentencing statute,
including a $200,000 fine that would take Hall more than 33 years to pay
off if he began paying $500 each month after his release from prison.