Groom Sentenced to Seven Years

The case of The State of Georgia vs. Travis Groom came to a conclusion this morning in the Rabun County Courthouse.  Public Defender Drew Powell gives the results…

“We ended up entering a plea to voluntary manslaughter. He received a sentence of 7 years with the first 5 to be served in prison, remaining 2 years on probation,$1000 fine, $400 in attorney’s fees, and he’s to have no contact with the victim’s family. He took this under what we call the first offenders act, which means if he stays out of trouble, does what he’s supposed to during probation, then this will come off his record, and it will be as if he wasn’t convicted of anything.”

District Attorney Brian Rickman added…

“As most folks know, we already had one trial that resulted in a hung jury. I think after the result in the last trial, both sides had a chance to talk to different jurors to get a feel for what issues the jury saw. So that kind of motivated both sides to come a little closer to a negotiated resolution.”

If Groom is found in violation of his sentence he could face up to 20 years in prison.