KINGMAN – A local judge served light on prison, but heavy on probation as he imposed punishment for a young adult who had sex with a Lake Havasu City teenager for more than a year-long period. Judge Billy Sipe sentenced Justice Garner, 21, on June 14 in Kingman. Garner in April pleaded guilty to two criminal counts reduced to attempted sexual conduct with a minor. Six other sexual conduct with a minor charges are dismissed in the plea agreement. The state requested that Garner be given the maximum sentence in a plea deal mandating a 5- to 10-year prison term. Defense counsel requested minimum punishment, asserting a litany of mitigating factors in Garner’s favor. Judge Sipe said emotional harm suffered by the victim was the only aggravating factor evident in the case and that mitigating factors control punishment. A troubled childhood, abuse by his father and his mother’s subsequent boyfriends were factors in favor of leniency. Judge Sipe further found that youthful homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues including chronic depression and suicidal ideations were also mitigating considerations. Accordingly, Judge Sipe ordered a five-year prison term. Sipe also ruled that Garner will serve lifetime probation once released from prison. Sipe said long term oversight is appropriate given that Garner denies having consensual sex with the 14-year-old victim for more than a year and because a probation department assessment concludes he is a medium- to high-risk to offend other women in the future. Dave Hawkins
Garner gets five years, plus lifetime probation
