District Attorney Micheal Murray reported that Wednesday, September 14, 2011 District Judge Stephen Ellis sentenced Gary Don Beason to 60 years confinement in the penitentiary in two cases and 20 years in the penitentiary in a third case after finding Beason guilty in three cases in a trial before the court. Beason was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine (between 1 and 4 grams) in the presence of a child (60 years); possession of a precursor chemical with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, namely pseudoephedrine (60 years); and endangering a child by possessing methamphetamine in the child’s presence (20 years). Assistant District Attorney Ryan Locker represented the State of Texas in the trial against Beason.
During the guilt/innocence phase, Assistant District Attorney Locker presented evidence to the court that on June 18, 2010, Brown County Sheriff’s Investigator Carlyle Gover received information that Methamphetamine was being cooked at the home of Ann Wilder in Brownwood. Wilder was on felony probation at the time for forgery, and therefore acted on a search clause in Wilder’s terms of probation that allowed probation officers to search her residence.
Probation Officer Jay Curtis, Investigator Gover, and BCSO Investigator Jason Benefield went to Wilder’s home. Wilder was in the process of leaving, but she immediately told law enforcement that her husband, Gary Beason, and Mickey Funderburg were cooking methamphetamine in the back of the house. Officers entered the home and discovered an overpowering chemical odor and found Beason and Funderburg dividing methamphetamine that had been freshly cooked. After arresting the subjects, it was discovered that a three-year-old child was asleep on the couch and very lethargic from inhalation of the chemicals used to manufacture the methamphetamine.
The trial court heard all evidence in a unified hearing and learned that Beason had been convicted of no less than 8 prior felonies and had spent nearly half of his life in prison. On account of his prior convictions, all three charges were enhanced with repeat and habitual allegations, which Beason admitted were true. Due to the enhancements, Beason faced a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 99 years or life on the manufacturing and possession of a precursor charges; he also faced a minimum of 2 years and maximum of 20 years on the endangering a child case.