More Prison Time for Recently Sentenced Inmate

LUFKIN — A Lufkin man who burned down his mother’s home with a methamphetamine lab last year became emotional in the courtroom Wednesday as he was sentenced to additional prison time. That’s according to KETK and the Lufkin Daily News. James Durham Jr. got 20 years in prison on an evading arrest charge last week. Now he’s received another 25 years in prison on each of three charges, including arson, possession of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Because he is to serve those charges concurrently, the 38-year-old man technically only received another five years in prison.

After being sentenced by state District Judge Gerald Goodwin, he told the court there was something he would like to say about the day he was shot earlier this year by two men near the charred remains of his mother’s home. “I might be what the papers say, but that day I was mowing my yard, two men drove up and shot me with a shotgun and a .22 and beat me with a two-by-four, and I didn’t deserve it. It was premeditated. I hope and pray justice is served on them, same as it was on me,” Durham said. “They shot me while I was on the ground, in the buttocks. I have to wear a (colostomy) bag now. I’ll have to wear that for the rest of my life for something that I don’t even know why they shot me, and they’re going to get away with it. They weren’t even charged. They drove up in my yard and shot me dead.”

After speaking with Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington about getting help for his drug problem, Durham was taken back to the Angelina County Jail, where he will be housed until being transported to prison.