Clarendon man sentenced to 55 years in prison

A Clarendon man was sentenced to 55 years in prison when the 100th District Court met here Friday, April 23.

District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the case for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding.

Brenton Arthur Campbell, 37, of Clarendon, was sentenced to 55 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, enhanced. The offense took place on December 30, 2020, which involved a knife as a deadly weapon.

Following his arrest, Campbell was placed on probation for five years on March 4. On March 17, the State filed a motion to revoke his probation alleging Campbell violated four conditions of his terms of probation.

At the hearing on April 23, Campbell admitted to the Court that he had violated some of his probation terms, which included violating a protective order against the victim in the underlying case.

A contested hearing was conducted to prove the remaining allegations, where the State called two witnesses. Meaghan Gribble, deputy director with the 100th Judicial District Community Supervision Department, testified that Campbell was told multiple times to have no contact with the victim.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn also testified for the State regarding Campbell’s arrest for the violation of the protective order.

According to testimony, Blackburn received information that Campbell was back with the victim, and due to the severity of the original case, he put finding Campbell as a top priority so something else would not happen to the victim.

After all the State’s evidence was presented, Messer officially convicted Campbell of the felony offense and began the punishment hearing.

“Basically, deferred is a second chance for individuals that leads to two different paths,” said Inman. “Path one is the person who takes responsibility for their actions and makes all efforts to repay their debt back to society by abiding by the law and making positive changes in their own life and the lives of others.”

“These same individuals stay off mind altering substances or get the help from the probation department if they can’t do it on their own,” Inman said.

“Individuals also stay away from other criminals, and especially the victim of the underlying offense, in keeping with the contract they make with the court to be placed on felony probation in the first place. This defendant chose the second path, which is basically the opposite of the first path.”

During the punishment phase, Campbell pleaded to the court that he just wanted the court, namely Judge Messer, to marry him and the victim of the underlying charge.

However, Campbell also testified that the victim was the reason for his increased methamphetamine use. Additional evidence also came to light that Campbell was currently married to another woman in the area.

After hearing all of the punishment evidence, Campbell was sentenced to 55 years by Messser. Under current Texas law, Campbell will be required to serve at least 50 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole because his crime involved the use of a deadly weapon.