DAYTON, Ohio -- Alton Coleman and Debra Brown, suspects in a Midwestern crime spree that included eight killings, today were each sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping a Kentucky college professor.
U.S. District Judge Walter Rice also ruled the two could be transferred immediately to Cincinnati to face trial on murder charges.
Coleman, 28, and Brown, 22, both of Waukegan, Ill., pleaded guilty last Nov. 26 to the July 16 abduction of Oline Carmical of Williamsburg, Ky., who was found unharmed but locked in the trunk of his car in a Dayton park.
Defense lawyers said they did not know if they will appeal the sentence.
Rice denied a defense request to prevent their transfer to Cincinnati.
Thomas Harris, 33, of Lexington, Ky., an accomplice, also pleaded guilty to the kidnapping. The date for his sentencing has not been set.
Coleman and Brown were arrested July 20 in an Evanston, Ill., park following a nationwide manhunt.
They were wanted for a string of killings, beatings and robberies in six Midwestern states that allegedly began May 29 with the abduction and slaying of Vernita Wheat, 9, of Kenosha, Wis.
Both have been indicted for murder in the July 13 killing of Marlene Walters, 44, of the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, and the July 11 killing of Toney Storey, 15, of Cincinnati.
They also have been charged in the June 18 slaying of Tamika Turks, 7, of Gary, Ind., and have been indicted for the killings of Virginia Temple, 30, and her daughter, Rachelle, 10, of Toledo, whose bodies were found in the crawl space of their home July 7.
In addition, Coleman and Brown are suspected in the killing of Donna Williams, 25, of Gary, whose body was found in an empty building in Detroit July 11, and they are suspects in the July 19 shooting and stabbing death of Eugene Scott, 77, of Indianapolis.
Prosecutors in Cincinnati and Indiana have said they will seek the death penalty for the Walters and Turks killings.
Coleman and Brown face a maximum of life in prison for the kidnapping charge, with an eligibility for parole in 10 years.
