Lutcher man receives maximum sentence

LUTCHER — Gene Franklin, 34, of Lutcher was sentenced to the maximum sentence for second-degree battery by the Honorable Judge Tess Stromberg on June 24.

Stromberg ordered that Franklin be committed to the Louisiana Department of Corrections for 15 years with credit for time served. The sentence is to be served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

“It should be noted that the district attorney’s office does intend to file a habitual offender bill in this matter,” according to a press release from the 23rd Judicial District Court.

The sentence followed a September 2018 trial and conviction.

On October 29, 2016, St. James Parish Sheriff’s detectives were dispatched to a residence in reference to a sexual battery. Upon making contact with the victim, detectives learned Franklin had inserted some type of object into the victim’s private area and caused damage to her body after she denied his sexual advances.

The victim indicated it was not the first time she was abused after refusing to have intercourse with Franklin.

Franklin was subsequently arrested and booked into the St. James Parish Jail.

Man pleads guilty after failing to register as a sex offender

LUTCHER — Floyd Brooks Jr., 55, of Lutcher, pleaded guilty to failure to register and notify as a sex offender or child predator as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Brooks was sentenced to two years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

On August 29, 2018, detectives with the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office received information that Brooks, a convicted sex offender, moved to Lutcher from the state of Florida and failed to register as a sex offender in St. James Parish.

Detectives obtained a warrant of arrest for Brooks, and he was subsequently apprehended and booked into the St. James Parish Detention Center.

Brooks has a previous conviction for sexual battery in the state of Florida.

Gramercy man pleads guilty to monetary instrument abuse

GRAMERCY — Ricky Keller, 25, of Gramercy pleaded guilty to monetary instrument abuse and was sentenced to one year with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.