MACCLENNY, Fla. – Ruben Ebron, who is serving a 20-year sentence for crimes connected to the death of toddler Lonzie Barton in Duval County, was sentenced late Tuesday to an additional five years in prison for his conviction on two 2015 drug possession charges in Baker County.
The state recommended two years on those charges and an additional charge of resisting an officer without violence, but Circuit Judge James Colaw gave Ebron the maximum sentence of five years in prison on the possession of methamphetamine charges and gave him credit for time served on the resisting charge.
News4Jax spoke to Ebron's mother and father about the sentence after the hearing.
"I cannot say whether it was harsh or unjust, I can say that Ruben did something wrong, the judge thought it was an appropriate sentence, i'm not going to argue with him about that," said Wanda Ebron.
Last month Ebron's defense attorneys said Ebron was willing to plead no contest to four of six drug charges against him in exchange for a two-year sentence to be served concurrently with his current prison sentence in Duval County.
When Colaw denied that request, the defense offered the same no contest plea in exchange for 13 months of additional prison time. The judge said that wasn't enough.
Prosecutors said at the time they still needed to depose two additional witnesses, and the defense said it was preparing a change-of-venue motion to move the trial out of Baker County.
Ruben Ebron was out on bail on the Baker County charges when Lonzie disappeared on July 24. After six months in jail and on the eve of his trial, he led police to the toddler's skeletal remains.
He told police the boy drowned in a bathtub after he and Lonna Barton locked the child in a room while they had sex.