Sentence levied for cocaine possession

William Joseph Kuykendall

Leonardtown, MD — A Lexington Park man has been sentenced to six years in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of cocaine. William Kuykendall, 34, was sentenced April 7th in St. Mary’s County Circuit Court by Judge Karen Abrams.
Judge Abrams imposed consecutive four-year terms for each of the two counts, but suspended one year for each count. Kuykendall will be on three years of supervised probation after he is released from the Maryland Department of Corrections.

Kuykendall was indicted in two separate cases, which also included counts for distribution, on May 10th of last year. He was then arrested as part of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department’s “Operation Undivided Attention” which nabbed 40 people involved in drug activity.

Kuykendall was originally scheduled for sentencing the day before but failed to appear and a bench warrant was issued. He told Judge Abrams that his ride didn’t show up on time. He did finally appear late and was jailed pending the sentencing hearing.

Kuykendall asked for leniency. He told Judge Abrams that he realized his record wasn’t great, but most of the convictions were older. But the judge pointed out he had been in “trouble consistently throughout your entire life” and that some of the more recent charges hadn’t led to convictions.

Kuykendall has two children. He said, “By having a daughter and becoming a father really changed me.” But the judge noted that he had an older child and the existence of that child hadn’t caused him to stop his criminal ways. She also noted that Kuykendall’s work record “was really spotty.”

The judge said Kuykendall was polite and seemed to have “good qualities” and she hoped he could get his life together so he could be productive when released. She said Kuykendall had already received a considerable break from the state when they dropped the more serious distribution charges.

St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Rick Fritz represented the state at the sentencing hearing. Kuykendall was represented by public defender Sean Moran.