SAU horse-theft case yields 10-year sentence

MAGNOLIA — A judge has handed down a 10-year prison sentence to a former Southern Arkansas University student charged with stealing horses and equipment from the school's stables.

Both the prosecution and defense had recommended a suspended sentence for 21-year-old Jaci Jackson, noting she already has a 42-month prison sentence to serve in Oklahoma. But on Thursday, Judge Larry Chandler said he couldn't allow Jackson to "walk out of this courtroom without being punished."

Five horses were stolen in November 2011. They were later found malnourished in Oklahoma, and one of the horses had been killed.

Jackson's attorney, Michael Lusk, told the Banner-News that Jackson is "totally apologetic" and that she was under the influence of her mother at the time. Wendi Cox is serving a 60-year sentence in the case.

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