FROM: Jody Pickens, District Attorney General, 26th Judicial District
On February 5, 2025, Officer Walker of the Jackson Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a black sedan. During the course of the stop, the officer searched the vehicle due to the odor of marijuana and located two small bags containing cocaine, a bag containing marijuana, a black digital scale, and a black Taurus 9-millimeter handgun. Denaric Bates, then forty-seven (47) years of age, was the driver of the vehicle and the sole occupant. At that time, Bates had four (4) prior felony convictions: Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Sell and/or Deliver, Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell and/or Deliver, and Felony Evading Arrest (1999); Aggravated Burglary (2000); Aggravated Assault (2020); and Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Sell and/or Deliver (2021).
Based on the evidence seized during the traffic stop, a Madison County Grand Jury indicted Bates for Possession of Schedule II (Cocaine) with Intent to Sell and/or Deliver, Possession of Schedule VI (marijuana) with Intent to Sell and/or Deliver, four (4) counts of Possession of a Firearm During Commission of a Dangerous Felony, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving on a Cancelled, Suspended, or Revoked License with priors, two (2) counts of being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and two (2) counts of being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Handgun.
The State, represented by Assistant District Attorneys General Chandler Croom and Matthew Floyd, tried the case to a jury on March 31, 2026. The jury returned verdicts of guilty of being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm/Handgun, Simple Possession of Schedule VI (amended), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving on a Cancelled, Suspended, or Revoked License, and guilty of the lesser charge of Simple Possession of Schedule II. The Honorable Donald H. Allen conducted a sentencing hearing on May 20, 2026, and sentenced Bates to an effective sentence of fifteen (15) years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. He must serve 85% of this sentence before being eligible for parole.
Judge Allen ordered that the fifteen (15) year sentence will be served consecutively to the prior sentences of six (6) years and four (4) years for a total effective sentence of twenty-five (25) years to serve in prison.
“This Defendant had reached an age where he should have learned a lesson from his past transgressions but as one can see, he did not,” said District Attorney General Jody Pickens. “Now he will have a long time to think about his choices and decisions. If there is a positive aspect of this case, it is that the citizens of Madison County will be protected from this Defendant’s criminal behavior.”
