CALHOUN COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — An Alabama man charged in a rape and kidnapping case from 2022 received his sentencing on Friday.
Tony Lamar White, 49, of Anniston, was sentenced to 198 years in prison by Judge Burgess, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office.
On July 4, 2022, deputies with the CCSO responded to a home in the Choccolocco community regarding a report of a missing 75-year-old woman. Evidence at the scene, such as her glasses and groceries found in the driveway, suggested a struggle had taken place.
Key information led investigators to report White as the suspect. Nearly six hours later, deputies located the victim bound in a closet inside White's residence in Anniston. White was taken into custody the following day in Kentucky and booked into the Calhoun County Jail.
On June 11, White entered an ‘open’ guilty plea to charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. The CCSO states an ‘open’ guilty plea indicates no deals or agreements were made with prosecutors.
According to CCSO, DNA evidence has linked White to other crimes of a similar nature. It is unknown if the agency is pursuing further charges against him.
"While no sentence can truly account for the gravity of such a heinous crime, it is the hope of the Sheriff’s Office that Tony White will never again be free in our society," a press release from CCSO stated.
District Attorney Lynn Hammonds and her team prosecuted the case.