By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

COLUMBUS, Kan. — Aaron Graham will remain free on bond until his sentencing for first-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2007, shooting death of Jamey Richardson.

Graham, 23, of Pittsburg, pleaded guilty Friday to the crime, which includes a mandatory sentence of life in prison. He would be eligible for parole in 20 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 23.

The prosecution had filed the motion to revoke Graham’s bond so that he would start serving time immediately. In a court hearing Monday, Cherokee County Attorney John Bullard argued that before he pleaded guilty, Graham had a presumption of innocence, but that the plea has negated that presumption.

Bullard said there was more of a risk that Graham would flee to avoid his sentence.

Graham’s attorney, Shane Adamson, said Graham was not a flight risk. He said his client has shown up for every court hearing.

He also said there was no need to revoke Graham’s bond to protect public safety, because the incident that resulted in Richardson’s death was an isolated incident.

“It’s tragic,” Adamson said.

“He struggled with making the decision to plead,” Adamson said. “Based on the weight of the evidence, I think he made the right decision.”

Adamson said allowing Graham to remain free on bond would give him a little more time to spend with his wife and child.

Cherokee County District Judge Kent Lynch denied the motion to revoke Graham’s bond, saying the assertion that there is more of a flight risk doesn’t make it so. He ordered Graham to report to court services in person once weekly, and to report by phone every other weekday. He said Graham also must not leave Crawford or Cherokee counties without the court’s permission.

Adamson said after Monday’s hearing the plea deal was in his client’s best interest because with the agreement, his client knows what will happen, while there were risks with going to trial, including a high probability of a conviction of multiple felonies and a longer sentence.

Co-defendant Samuel Becker, 23, of Pittsburg, was sentenced in March to life plus 5 1/2 years in prison, after being found guilty in January of first-degree murder and 10 other felonies. Co-defendant Edward Gordon, 20, of Baxter Springs, was found guilty of second-degree murder after pleading “no contest” to the charge as part of a plea agreement. The agreement calls for a 10-year sentence. His sentencing is scheduled for July 29, but the date may change.