Two men sentenced in Walter Phelps murder case

ALBANY — Two Albany men tied to the 2010 shooting death of an Albany business owner during an armed robbery received sentencing for their involvement Monday at the Dougherty County Jail.

Both Jamon Carter and Ryan Richardson were sentenced based on plea agreements they made with the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office stemming from their role in the robbery that led to the death of P&P Garden and Hardware Store owner Walter Phelps.

Carter pled guilty to conspiracy to commit an armed robbery and financial transaction fraud and was sentenced to a total of 13 years probation by Dougherty County Chief Superior Court Judge Willie Lockett under the state’s first time offender law.

Richardson pled guilty to armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 20 years and must serve a minimum of 12 years of that sentence.

The sentencing of Carter and Richardson follows Monday’s sentencing of Ezekial James and Jordan Harris, who both stood trial in August of 2014 for Phelps’ murder.

James was ultimately found not guilty of murder, but was found guilty of financial transaction card fraud for which he received a sentence of three years probation.

Harris, who was found guilty in that trial, was sentenced to life in prison without parole to run consecutively with two other life sentences he received in 2011 for an armed robbery in Dougherty County. In addition to the life sentence, Harris was given two 20-year sentences for aggravated assault, three five-year sentences for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and a three-year sentence for financial card transaction fraud.

A fifth person involved in the incident, Roderick Ferrell, also entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office and pled guilty to theft by receiving stolen property and financial transaction card fraud. He was sentenced in October to 10 years in prison and must serve a minimum of five years.

Monday’s sentencing was the final step in the legal process that began on July 3, 2010, when Phelps was shot during the course of an armed robbery at P&P Garden and Hardware store, then located at 2500 N. Slappey Boulevard.

According to evidence presented by Chief Deputy District Attorney Heather Lanier during the course of Harris’ trial, Phelps was shot in the back during the robbery and died a month later as a result of those injuries.