Sentences Given in Criminal Court

Several people were sentenced in DeKalb Criminal Court last week, including a Nashville man accused of defrauding an elderly Smithville woman and a local couple for child abuse.

On Tuesday, Nov. 19, Michael David Verble, 69, pleaded guilty to financial exploitation of an older adult and was sentenced to four years in prison, concurrent with cases in Rutherford and Williamson Counties. He must pay $3,500 in restitution to the victim by March 31, 2025. Verble was sentenced to 419 days in prison.

Verble was charged in the case in July 2023 for never pursuing the case after taking $3,500 from a 74-year-old Smithville woman to set up a trust account. Verble had been charged with similar crimes in Williamson and Rutherford counties. He was listed as having experience in the healthcare, financial services and insurance industries.

Last week, a couple accused of abusing their four children was also sentenced. Kammi Dawn Horton, 22, and Takota Chayton Prinsloo, 22, of Antioch Road, Smithville, were convicted of two counts of child abuse of a child eight years of age or younger and sentenced to two years in TDOC supervision. Judicial diversion probation will last a total of four consecutive years in each case. They must continue to comply with DCS rules. Prinsloo was sentenced to 103 days in prison and Horton was sentenced to 102 days.

According to DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray, Horton and Prinsloo were sleeping and left their two sons and two daughters unattended and in poor housing conditions, affecting the child’s health and well-being.

Sonni M. Fullilove, 30, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to sell over 0.5 grams of a schedule II drug (meth) and received an eight-year TDOC sentence to serve with leave in a treatment program. The sentence will run concurrently with another case filed against him. He was fined $2,000 plus court costs.

Joshua M. Beckham, 32, was convicted of two counts of possession with intent to sell over 0.5 grams of a schedule II drug (meth) and was sentenced to eight years in prison to run concurrently on each count, suspended on supervised probation. He was fined $4,000 and sentenced to 97 days in jail.

Troy Allen Cunningham, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of more than 0.5 grams of methamphetamine and was sentenced to eight years in prison suspended on supervised probation and fined $2,000.