A Macon man serving probation for a 2014 Jones County burglary was back in Jones County Superior Court to plead guilty to drugs and firearms charges.
Shuncarlos Malik Curtis entered his plea Jan. 3 to new charges of possession of marijuana, possession of an illegal weapon, and possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer. He received a total sentence of 15 years with the first five years served in confinement.
The defendant was also adjudicated guilty and resentenced to burglary in the first degree, obstruction and possession of marijuana from the 2014 charges. That sentence totaled 10 years with four years to serve. The resentencing was ordered because of Curtis’ repeated violation of first offender conditions of his 2014 probation.
In both sentences, Curtis received credit for time served from his May 1, 2022, arrest.
First offender probation is a one-time offer to a defendant sentenced for a felony charge for the first time. If the defendant completes the probation, the crime is erased from his record. If the first offender probation conditions are violated, the defendant can be adjudicated guilty and resentenced to the maximum for the offense.
A report of Curtis’ May 1, 2022, arrest by Jones County Sheriff Office Deputy Thomas Sullivan states that he was dispatched to Haley Street in reference to loud music. When he arrived, he noticed three vehicles blocking the road and pulled behind them in an attempt to clear the road.
Sullivan said one of the cars moved right away and he said he ran the tag on a black Honda Accord that was directly in front of him. The deputy said he received an alert that the owner of the Honda was wanted for a forgery charge in Waycross. Sullivan said he performed a traffic stop on the Honda and Deputy Christopher Wimberly made contact with the third vehicle, a white Chevrolet truck. Sullivan said when he approached the Honda, he smelled the odor of marijuana, and he asked for the identity of all the occupants. The driver said he did not have his license but gave his name as Shun Curtis.
Sullivan said after the other two were identified he asked Curtis to step out of the vehicle and he was placed in handcuffs due to the warrants. The deputy said Curtis had a backpack that contained several baggies of marijuana and a 15-round magazine for a 9mm, fully loaded.
Sullivan said as he was getting Curtis out of the car, he noticed a black gun on the seat next to the passenger. He said he grabbed the .380 caliber Smith and Wesson, and Curtis was placed in the rear of his patrol car.
The deputy said while he was talking to the backseat passenger, he noticed a small bag of marijuana on the floorboard. He asked that passenger to get out of the car and he then noticed the end of a gun magazine in the pouch on the back of the driver’s seat, from a Bersa .380 caliber.
Sullivan said when he picked up the bag of marijuana from the floorboard, he located another gun under the passenger seat. It was a Glock 9mm with a 30-round magazine fully loaded. He added that the gun appeared to have been modified with a homemade gun slide to make it fully automatic.
