Jury recommends 80-year term for kidnapper

A Tulsa County jury has recommended an 80-year prison sentence for a man it convicted of abducting a 3-year-old boy as part of an alleged plot to influence another case. <br><br>Lamarr Dennis, 32, was

Sunday, April 7th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A Tulsa County jury has recommended an 80-year prison sentence for a man it convicted of abducting a 3-year-old boy as part of an alleged plot to influence another case.

Lamarr Dennis, 32, was found guilty Friday night of the Easter 2001 abduction of Deandre Thomas. Three others were accused in the extortion plot, but their alleged involvement in the case has been settled.

Deandre disappeared from his family's Tulsa apartment around 1:30 a.m. April 15. An unidentified man with a gun and a female accomplice confronted a friend of the family and took Deandre while other people at the apartment were asleep.

The child was found wandering the streets alone about 2 a.m. April 16.

Deandre, now 4, needs medication for an asthma condition. He was cold and wheezing when found and required treatment for exposure, according to reports.

Police interviewed Dennis after an anonymous caller told one of Deandre's relatives that the boy would be killed unless her daughter _ also a relative of Dennis _ recanted her accusation against Dennis.

Dennis pleaded guilty in March 2001 to an indecent exposure charge that involved a girl who is now 14. He was free on bail while awaiting a sentencing that originally resulted in a 20-year prison term.

At the kidnapping trial, defense attorney Stan Monroe maintained that the indecent exposure case was already decided when Deandre disappeared and there was no opportunity then for Dennis ``to challenge the girl's credibility.''

Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said Dennis developed an ``evil plan'' in a last-minute effort to avoid prison.

While jurors didn't hear evidence regarding the plan, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals last month ordered the 20-year exposure sentence vacated after deciding that Dennis should have been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.

With Dennis winning his appeal to withdraw the plea, three sex-abuse counts will be reinstated and prepared for trial.

The kidnapping charge is unresolved against Larry Doby Berry, 22; Claudia Baldwin, 21; and Tiawana Maria Smith, 35.

Smith testified for the prosecution at the Dennis trial and is destined to get some consideration on her charge. She spent eight months in jail before being released in mid-December on an electronic monitoring program, records show.

Berry and Baldwin have remained in custody since their April 16 arrests.