Patrick Pierce, 47, was sentenced this week to 40 years as a multiple felony offender under Louisiana’s Habitual Offender Law. In December 2015, Pierce was found guilty by a Bossier Parish jury of Attempted Second Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Second Degree Murder related to a plot to murder the husband of Pierce’s girlfriend, Cassie Sims. The scheme was thwarted when the intended victim disarmed Pierce causing him to flee the residence. Sims promised Pierce sex in exchange for killing her husband. The husband’s life was saved due to Pierce’s inability to work the safety on the gun he was using. Sims previously pleaded guilty for her involvement in the murder plot. Following a pre-sentence investigation, Judge Mike Nerren sentenced Pierce to 25 years on the murder charge and 15 years on the conspiracy charge.
After the Second Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, the District Attorney’s Office filed a multiple offender charge citing Pierce’s prior felony convictions. Pierce’s criminal history included two additional felony convictions in the State of New Jersey that were unable to be used as prior convictions in the habitual offender proceedings. After a contested hearing, Judge Mike Nerren found Pierce to be a second felony offender and sentenced him to 40 years at hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Doug Stinson prosecuted the case and also handled the multiple offender proceedings. “The multiple offender law is absolutely needed in our system to put career criminals like Patrick Pierce in prison where they belong” said District Attorney Schuyler Marvin.