PHOTO: (DeKalb County Sheriff's Office)
By Staff Reports
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — According to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office: Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the conviction of an inmate who was already in the DeKalb County jail and tried to arrange for the assault of a local prosecutor to stop him from attending the defendant’s sentencing hearing. Joshua Kilgro, 45, now has 19 years added to sentences he already is serving for multiple other crimes.
Kilgro pleaded guilty in DeKalb County Circuit Court yesterday to criminal solicitation to commit first-degree assault, a class C felony for which he was sentenced to 19 years. Additionally, he was sentenced to 12 months for third-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor, regarding a fight while he was incarcerated. These new sentences are to run concurrently with previous sentences for crimes including unlawful possession of controlled substances, DUI, and third-degree burglary.
This conviction arises from Kilgro’s action in 2014 to solicit someone to cause a prosecutor to run his vehicle off a mountain road in order to injure him and keep him from attending a sentencing hearing for Kilgro. The intended victim was DeKalb County Deputy District Attorney Scott Lloyd. The person Kilgro solicited to assist in the scheme instead reported the matter to law enforcement.
“This defendant’s attempt to thwart justice was properly met by the righteous arm of the law, resulting in even more convictions and a stern sentence,” said Attorney General Marshall. He commended those involved in bringing this case to a successful conclusion, commending in particular: Assistant Attorneys General Stephanie Billingslea, Leigh Gwathney and Ternisha Jones, and Special Agents of the Attorney General’s Investigations Division who assisted. He thanked the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation.
Scott Lloyd responded with:
“It has been my duty and my honor to fight against drugs for over 21 years as the Deputy District Attorney, and I always knew something like this could happen.
It’s my job to enforce and uphold the law, and I won’t back down from carrying out that duty because of plots like this.
In a way, it’s flattering that he saw me as such an effective prosecutor that he was willing to go to this length just to make sure I couldn’t handle his sentencing hearing.
On the other hand, he tried to put a contract on a public servant just for doing his job, and for that he must be punished.
The most shocking part of this story is that I just as easily could have had my kids in the car with me when the hitman was supposed to push me off a cliff. I signed up for a job that can include dangers like this, but my kids didn’t.
Still, I’m more sad to see what this individual allowed methamphetamine to do to his life than I am angry over what he was prepared to do to me and my kids.
Meth has ruined so many lives in our community, and here is one more. In a way, this case is a perfect example of why it’s so important that we continue the fight against drugs. They’re dangerous to everyone in the community.”
