A judge added 50 more years Friday to the life sentence Victor Mitchell is serving after being convicted of masterminding a plot to kidnap Columbia businessman Tommy Duff.
A jury had already given the 45-year-old former Columbia resident a life sentence for attempted kidnapping after finding him guilty Sept. 26 following a four-day trial in Poplarville.
The other three counts were left to Circuit Judge Claiborne “Buddy” McDonald to decide sentencing on during a hearing Friday at the Lamar County Courthouse in Purvis.
McDonald added the following:
- Five years for one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, sexual battery and extortion;
- Thirty years for attempted sexual battery; and
- Fifteen years for attempted extortion.
The terms are to run consecutively, meaning once one sentence concludes then the next would begin.
One of Mitchell’s attorneys, Robert Whitacre of Hattiesburg, said Tuesday that Mitchell will be appealing the decision.
District Attorney Hal Kittrell said the sentence Mitchell received spoke for itself regarding any comments.
At the brief sentencing hearing, Duff provided a victim impact statement, but it was not read in court. Mitchell did not speak at the hearing.
According to evidence presented at the trial, Mitchell was upset with a settlement from a March 2016 car accident involving his Porsche and a truck belonging to KLLM Transport Services, which is one of the companies owned by Duff Capital Investors. The Columbia-based conglomerate is co-owned by Tommy Duff and his brother.
According to testimony, Mitchell recruited three men, Willie Lampley, Howard Cameron and Glen Evans, to kidnap Duff from his Lamar County home, and they planned to sexually assault and extort the businessman. Lampley, who testified that his mother urged him not to go through with the plan, tipped off both the Hattiesburg Police Department and Duff directly, leading to law enforcement arresting Mitchell, Cameron and Evans on Nov. 19. 2016. When taken into custody, they had materials in their cars that law enforcement said they planned to use in the kidnapping, including masks, zip ties and guns.
Cameron has already pleaded guilty and received 25 years with 12 to serve in exchange for his cooperation, which included testifying against Mitchell at the trial. Evans is set to be tried in February.
Mitchell remained in the Lamar County Jail as of Tuesday.
