SUSPECT IN DRUG DEAL THAT LEFT THREE PEOPLE DEAD GIVEN PROBATION IN
PLEA BARGAIN

OROVILLE -- A third suspect in an aborted drug deal that left three
people dead at an Oroville motel last fall was placed on probation
Wednesday as part of a plea bargain in Butte County Superior Court.

Citing the severity of the case, Jeffery James Hutton's probation
officer had recommended he also serve a term in prison with two
previously sentenced co-defendants.

But Judge James Reilley said he was not willing to overturn a
plea-bargain agreement that guaranteed Hutton probation for not
contesting a felony drug transportation charge.

Hutton, 38, of Concow was placed on three years court probation
Wednesday and ordered to serve 150 days in jail.

Hutton was one of four men who escaped when a gunfight erupted last
Oct. 22 during the sale of a large amount of marijuana at the Best
Value Inn in Oroville.

Two would-be drug buyers from the Vallejo area were killed in the
hail of bullets, as was one of the pot sellers, Thomas John Kile, 38,
of Concow.

A third suspected buyer from the Bay Area, identified as Deandre
Lowe, 38, is still being sought and could face murder charges,
authorities said.

According to police reports, Kile and Hutton had arranged to sell
tens of thousands of dollars of pot, some of which had Advertisement
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the state's medical marijuana law.

Two admitted accomplices, Joshua Roberts, 22, and Shaun McDeavitt,
23, both of Oroville, were sentenced last month to identical
three-year prison terms for their part in the fatal drug transaction.

Deputy district attorney Dan Nelson, who prosecuted the case, agreed
to probation for Hutton largely because, unlike McDeavitt and
Roberts, Hutton had no prior criminal record.

Defense attorney Mark Stapleton submitted the case without comment at
Hutton's sentencing hearing Wednesday.

The judge allowed the Concow man to turn himself in at the Butte
County Jail on Friday to begin his sentence.