Career Offender Absconds during Trial

DA Charme Allen announces that prosecutors in the Career Gang Unit obtained convictions against a career offender who possessed a firearm then fled in the middle of his trial.  In April, Todd Lee White, 58, was convicted of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon and Resisting Arrest.  Today, White pled guilty to Failure to Appear, and Judge Steve Sword ordered White to serve twenty-four years in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail.

In a three-day trial in April, Assistant District Attorneys Jeannine Guzolek and Teddy Ryan explained to the jury that on September 13, 2022, detectives with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit received information that White was in possession of a firearm and drugs at a trailer off Rutledge Pike.  White had also been on the run from Jefferson County for six years.  When Det. Khristian Pickett and other officers arrived at White’s residence, they took him into custody after a brief struggle.  During a search of the trailer, officers located a Sig Sauer handgun with three loaded magazines and a holster.  Officers also recovered photos on White’s phone of him holding the handgun.  At trial, White denied possession of the handgun and claimed the photos on his phone were of a BB gun.  White later absconded during the trial itself, failing to appear for the third day of trial.

“We aggressively prosecute career criminals in possession of firearms in order to prevent violent crime,” said DA Allen.

White has seven prior felony convictions going back to 1986 for robbery, burglary, and drug offenses.  Assistant Victim Witness Coordinator Sheri Burkett aided in the prosecution of this case.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.