Last week, the Potter County (ex)Sheriff was found guilty of a felony charge of bribery here in Amarillo. The all-female jury believed he had accepted bribes from a company trying to get the contract to operate the county jail commissary. Yesterday, he was scheduled to go before the same jury for the punishment phase of the trial.
The ex-sheriff could have received as much as life in prison, but he decided he didn't want to take the chance. The prosecution offered him a deal on punishment and he took the deal.
Shumate will serve 6 months in the Armstrong County Jail, and then he will be on probation for 8 years. It would have been a bit awkward to have Shumate in the Potter County Detention Center (county jail), since he was in charge of that facility only last week, so Potter County officials asked Armstrong County if they would take him.
County Commissioners are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss filling the vacant sheriff's position for the next six months. A new sheriff will be elected in November (either Democrat Robert Taylor or Republican Brian Thomas), but they need someone to fill in until the new sheriff can take office.
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