Drug trafficker gets 60 years

By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
Nov. 8, 2003
A Lauderdale County man convicted on drug charges was sentenced Friday to two 60-year sentences to be served concurrently and with no possibility of early parole.
Kirby Glenn Tate was convicted in September, after a three-day trial in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.
Tate was arrested on March 10, following an undercover operation conducted by the East Mississippi Drug Task Force when he sold a large amount of marijuana to a confidential informant working with the task force.
He was indicted in July on two counts: 1) delivery of 435.3 grams of marijuana; and 2) possession of 531 grams of marijuana with intent to sell or distribute.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before finding Tate guilty on both counts.
Defense lawyers said Tate had been "entrapped" by task force agents, claiming that the confidential informant planted the marijuana at Tate's house and that Tate was trying to return it when he was arrested.
Assistant District Attorney Vel Young said Tate's intentions were perfectly clear from a tape made on the night of the undercover operation.
Tate will be held at the Lauderdale County jail until he can be transferred into the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.