Shadowscope

28-year-old Marko E. Burton aka Marko Xavier Burton has had a few run-ins with the law, mostly in the West Georgia area. In 2000 he was convicted of Possession of Cocaine and received 7 years. In 2001 he was convicted of Sale or Distribution of Cocaine and Marijuana and received 5 years for each. A couple of weeks later he was convicted of Possession of Marijuana and Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer. He got 5 years for the first and 12 months for the second charge. In 2005 he was convicted again for Possession of Cocaine and received a 10 year sentence. By all rights this repeat offender should still be in jail. So what did he actually serve? He was in jail for 23 months from 2002 to 2004 and 32 months from January of 2006 until this past september when he was paroled. WTF is wrong with this picture?

So what’s Marko been up to recently? Smoking weed apparently. Oh, and Assaulting a police officer now. Hopefully he’ll serve a little more time for this one. Yesterday a Villa Rica Georgia police officer pulled Marko over in a Dodge Magnum. When the officer walked up to the car he could smell Marijuana. He ordered Burton to turn the car off, which he did. When the officer reached inside to get the keys Burton started the car again and took off, dragging Sergeant Chet Long about 50 feet before he fell off and Burton ran over both his legs.

Several local law enforcement agencies joined the hunt for Marko Burton and they found him less than half an hour later in the Hampton Courts apartments. Burton was also in possesion of less than an ounce of Marijuana. He has been charged with Aggravated Assault Against a Police Officer and Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana and has been denied bond until his trial, most likely because he is a flight risk. The Villa Rica PD says that more charges are pending against Burton as well.

The police officer is going to be OK and should be back to work in a week or so.

Updated 10/22/09 – Marko Burton pled guilty to Aggravated Assault Against a Police Officer and Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana yesterday. In return for the guilty plea he was sentenced to 20 years with seven to serve in prison and the other 13 on probation.