A Brookhaven man has been sentenced to serve 12 years followinga habitual offender conviction in Jones County Circuit Court, andhe still faces charges on another crime in Lincoln County,authorities said.

James May, 31, was convicted in a 2007 burglary in Jones County.And based on some other crimes he committed in the 1990s, 18thCircuit Court District Attorney Tony Buckley told the LaurelLeader-Call that May will have to serve his full sentence as ahabitual offender.

May was charged with sexual assault and burglary in May 2008when he allegedly entered the home of an 83-year-old Brookhavenwoman, who told police she found the man standing in the livingroom of her home in a neighborhood off North Jackson Street. Shesaid he made a threatening statement before putting a knife to herthroat and taking her into the bedroom and assaulting her.

Sheriff Steve Rushing said when May was jailed on his charges inBrookhaven, he waited until his bond had been paid by the bailbondsman, and then ran away without paying him.

“He wasn’t charged with escaping because he was already out onbond,” Rushing said. “He doesn’t catch another charge for that, hewas just charged on the assault.”

From there, he disappeared until he was caught and jailed inTexas on another charge.

“That’s where they picked him up after he ran off on the bailbondsman, I think he had another charge over there,” Rushing said.”Then Jones (County) must have brought him back on their chargesover there.”

Rushing said the next step for Lincoln County is to get May backinto the county to face charges in Lincoln County CircuitCourt.

“We’ll do it sometime as soon as the judges get back frombreak,” Rushing said. “We’ll need to give him his initialarraignment, and it’s pretty much a matter of getting the paperworkdone. It’s just going to be a matter of getting him back over herefor these charges.”