CULPEPER, Va. (AP) - An inmate will serve another 28 years behind bars for attacking an instructor at the Coffeewood Juvenile Correction Center.
William Lamar Ballard received a 50-year sentence on Monday in Culpeper County Circuit Court. Judge Susan Whitlock then suspended 22 years of the sentence.
Prosecutors say the 19-year-old Ballard punched plumbing instructor David Cornett and threw a sink faucet that hit Cornett in the head on March 7, 2012. The injuries left Cornett unable to drive and he was forced to leave his teaching job at Coffeewood.
Culpeper Commonwealth's Attorney Megan Frederick says her office sought a sentence at the high end of the guidelines because of the crime's impact on the victim. She also cited the importance of maintaining order in correctional facilities.
