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Woman gets 10 years for purse snatching

March 14, 2008|Fred Petke

Between sniffles and with her family crying in the back of the courtroom, Pearl Little made her plea for mercy before being sentenced for stealing a woman's purse at Wal-Mart.

"I deserve punishment for what I've done but I'm asking the court for mercy," Little said Thursday afternoon in Clark Circuit Court. "I have three kids. I want the chance to raise my kids.

"I did not mean to do what I done. In my heart it won't be right until I look at Mrs. King and apologize," an emotional Little said as her family choked back tears from the rear of the courtroom.

Little admitted to a past of drug addiction, which contributed to the Aug. 31, 2007 robbery at Wal-Mart where Little and co-defendant Darina Lynem snatched the purse of Nina King and injured her in the process. Both pleaded guilty in February and prosecutors offered the minimum sentence of 10 years in prison to each.

"The mercy in this case has been shown to you by the commonwealth," Clark Circuit Judge Julia Hylton Adams said. "I really have no authority to reduce that sentence in any shape, form or fashion. You are going to have to pay the sentence to the Commonwealth of Kentucky that is agreed in this case."

Lynem previously pleaded guilty to complicity to commit first-degree robbery for her role in the crime. However, Lynem's attorney was out of town and therefore not in court Thursday. Adams continued Lynem's sentencing hearing until April 3, though it could be held earlier at her attorney's convenience, she said.

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