HOPE SYKES - 15 YEARS!

http://www.news4jax.com/news/23277023/detail.html

Wonder what Tommy ("I only got one drug charge!) Croslin is thinkin right about now... and Ron! Misty must be so uptight she could back up to a brick wall and suck a brick out of it!!!!! kh

Cummings' Relative Sentenced For Drugs
Hope Sykes Gets 15 Years In Prison On Drug Trafficking Charge

POSTED: Tuesday, April 27, 2010
UPDATED: 12:00 pm EDT April 27, 2010

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- A woman accused of being involved in a prescription drug operation with Ronald and Misty Cummings was sentenced Tuesday morning.

Hope Sykes, a cousin of Ronald Cummings, received a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to a drug trafficking charge. She also faces $250,000 in fines.

The prosecution played an audio recording in court of a jail conversation Sykes had with her mother. They claimed it proved her lack of remorse for the crime.

Sykes was among five people, including Ronald and Misty Cummings, Hank Croslin Jr., and Donna Broch, who were arrested in January on the drug charges resulting from a month-long undercover investigation in Putnam County.

If convicted, Ronald and Misty Cummings could receive a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison. Hank Croslin, if convicted, could face a minimum sentence of three to 15 years in prison.

Ronald Cummings, Misty Cummings and Hank Croslin were booked into jail Wednesday night on drug trafficking charges.

Misty Cummings' bond has been set at $1.4 million, and Ronald Cummings' bond is set at $900,000. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Ronald Cummings is the father of missing 6-year-old Haleigh Cummings, who vanished in February 2009. Misty Cummings, the girl's former stepmother, was the last person to see the girl.

Investigators said earlier this month that Haleigh is likely dead, and their investigation has gone from a missing persons case to a homicide investigation.

Investigators searched a St. Johns River boat ramp and found two cinder blocks, according to sources. They are waiting for the forensic evidence to be processed. Hank Croslin's attorney said it was Croslin's tip that led investigators to search the river. Misty Cummings was also seen at the dock being questioned.

Cummings' cousin gets 15 years for trafficking

By Cindy Swirko
Staff writer

Published: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 10:57 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 10:57 a.m.

PALATKA - Hope Sykes - an 18-year-old cousin of Ronald Cummings, the father of missing Putnam County girl Haleigh Cummings - pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count of trafficking in narcotics.

Circuit Judge Terry Larue sentenced her to 15 years in prison, the minimum mandatory sentence for the crime.
At the hearing in Palatka Tuesday morning, Sykes had sought to be sentenced to probation and drug therapy as a youthful offender. She told the judge she wanted to get a GED, go to college and become a physical therapist.

"I let drugs control my life," Sykes said. "I let my family down. I know I messed up. I want help. I don't want to live this life no more."

Friends and relatives asked for leniency, saying that Sykes had learned her lesson and that she had just gotten caught up in drugs.

The prosecutor pointed out that Sykes was arrested Jan. 3 on a drug possession charge. She had been released on her own recognizance when agents charged her with drug trafficking on Jan. 13.

Ronald Cummings, her cousin, was on the witness list and was in the courtroom on Tuesday. But he was not called to testify.

Cummings is among several people connected to the Haleigh case now facing drug-trafficking charges. Putnam County officials recently said the case of the 5-year-old girl's disappearance in February 2009 is now considered a homicide.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100427/ARTICLES/100429468/1109/sports?Title=Cummings-cousin-gets-15-years-for-trafficking

If convicted, Ronald and Misty Cummings could receive a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison. Hank Croslin, if convicted, could face a minimum sentence of three to 15 years in prison. kh

............At one point during the hearing, the prosecutor played a tape of an angry and unremorseful Sykes telling her mother, "if they think I am bad now wait until I get out."

She was also fined $250,000.......................


I don't think Misty's jail house convos are going to garner her much sympathy either! kh

OMG, kh, THANK YOU for posting this! This is great news. If any of the others think they are going to get off with a lite sent ace, I think this might smack them back into reality. No wonder Tommy is spilling info. I hope to God that the others get the word ASAP. We might actually get to bring HaLeigh home soon. (dead or alive)

It's about time that a Judge gives a REAL sentence! Sad that SO's don't get a sentence like this one though, huh?

Fysty~ Yes it is sad.

I think Hope pled under the youthful offender thing...... so Misty is really getting a reality check! She thinks she's gonna do 3 years in a 'boot camp"??? If I wuz her, I'd be freakin out right about now. Same goes for the rest of em. kh

I bet Ron about shit his pants! As for the others, I can't wait for new video & audio to come out of the jail from their next visiting day! Maybe now, someone will finally open up & tell the damned truth & bring HaLeigh home.

Any news on Donna Brock? I haven't seen anything in a long time, about her. Is she even still in jail or did her hubby or someone get her out?

She said they could kiss her a$$, hmmm, guess they did! Kiss'd it goodbye!
Now on to the next ones! Maybe this will bring a bit of REALITY to the rest of them!!!

THUMBSUP wrote: She said they could kiss her a$$, hmmm, guess they did! Kiss'd it goodbye!
Now on to the next ones! Maybe this will bring a bit of REALITY to the rest of them!!!

Welcome! Love your comment!

AJ...She was already out on ROR for a possession charge.

I think 15 years is a little severe for one count of trafficking. Maybe 15 years for pure ignorance, she was just released two weeks before for possession. Probation and therapy wouldn't have done her any good right away either, she certainly wasn't taking it seriously. I do believe she should serve a little prison time, it might have just straightened her life out. I know a child rapist only serving 8 years. That's messed up.

I'd say the dreams of probation and rehab for the rest of them are shot to hell now. Just like their lives. Haleigh's gone, the people that surrounded her will be locked away for a very long time. It's sad that all of the other children within these families were and are still in this environment. Maybe the accepted cycle of school drop outs, teen mothers, drug use and dealing will come to a screeching halt for the ones that will be outside those prison walls raising the children left in these families.

And there's still no answer on what happened to Haleigh. What worries me, if they know they are going to be sentenced that long for drugs, what would make one of them admit to it now? I just hope it doesn't silence the person or persons involved as to what happened to this precious child.

That's just my opinion. I'd also still like to know how these oxys were obtained, who was the main dealer or who got the prescription and how. If it's been posted, I've missed it. I'm not defending drug use or dealing by any means, they broke the law.

Hi THUMBSUP...welcome to RC. I'm sure Hope would like to rescind that offer about now, that's for sure.

Wasn't Misty and Tommy's dad arrested just recently for doctor shopping for oxy's? I think their mom also was recently arrested for the same thing.

I agree, AJ. I figured there was a missing link as to the drugs and how they were obtained. I felt it was almost a set up, so to speak. I feel, in my opinion, 15 years is an extremely severe sentence for Hope. And by silencing the truth, I'm talking Tommy....I know he's laying blame on Joe. And it may very well be Joe, I thought it was him at first. But it may very well be Tommy himself....I just don't know.

sitemama wrote:Wasn't Misty and Tommy's dad arrested just recently for doctor shopping for oxy's? I think their mom also was recently arrested for the same thing.

Mama, I originally thought when they were first arrested that Misty may have gotten the oxy's from her Dad, Hank. Because he was arrested for doctor shopping. I don't know what ever became of that though. And from what AJ said, it appears a dealer befriended Misty and Ron on behalf of LE.

It's hard to believe that a 19 year old, who "just went along for the car ride" on a drug deal got 15 years in an adult female prison. But, it was the "min man" minimum mandatory sentencing....... Still, Hope is 19 years old. You would think being "younger than the legal drinking age" she could have dodged this 15 year bullet, somehow, someway.

I hate drug dealers, they belong with child killers and pedophiles, all fired off in a rocket ship to Pluto, where they can't damage our society any further.

Hope Sykes needed a better mother and father, parents who would've said, "Steer clear of Misty and Ron, they are a bullseye target of Law Enforcement."

Had no one taught Hope, "Guilty by association?"

I do remember being taught when I was a teen (can't remember by whom) that if you go on a car ridin drug deal, just "as a friend" you will end up just as BUSTED as the dealer himself. I remember thinking........ Really? (Not that I was ever invited to go for a drug deal!!)

Hope Sykes was in the wrong place at the wrong time!!!!

Pictures of Hope after her sentencing:





http://photos.jacksonville.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=29159798&event=988854&CategoryID=57821

I'm wondering why her attorney had her plea no contest, knowing there was a minimum mandatory sentence. If she had pleaded not guilty, would it have made a difference, anyone know?

Piper I heard that she could've gone the "Youth" route, got Juvenile Detention, or some such, spent three years, then qualified for parole. I must say I feel sorry for this girl, it seems no adult has provided her with adequate direction. It makes me sick!

BTW she looks like she's doped up on meds. Tranquilizers.

It's not like by incarcerating Hope the feds have nabbed some drug lord!!

If you listen to this jailhouse tape of Hope and her Mom, it almost sounds like she doesn't understand what no contest is......