HOUSTON -- The son of former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Ernie Holmes has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for a kidnapping in which the victim was killed.
Sexton Lovell Holmes, 19, was sentenced Thursday on an aggravated kidnapping conviction. He must serve up to 13 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
Holmes' co-defendants, Carlton Lavon Morris and Robert Robertson, await trial on similar charges in the Oct. 12, 1989, abduction of Raymond Batiste.
Testimony in the case showed Batiste used a BB gun to steal $60 worth of crack cocaine from a woman who allegedly bought the drug from Sexton Holmes. The woman told Holmes of the theft, and he and his codefendants later forced Batiste into the trunk of his car and drove away.
The car was found the next day along a freeway, with Batiste dead of two 9mm gunshot wounds.
Ernie Holmes testified his son simply was a pawn of a crack-smoking clique that led him astray. But prosecutor Glenn Gotschall suggested Sexton Holmes actually masterminded the killing.
The elder Holmes, who achieved fame in the mid-1970s with the Steelers as part of the team's 'Steel Curtain' defensive line, said he feels responsible for the behavior of his learning-disabled son. Holmes also said he considers himself a negligent parent.
Ernie Holmes had problems with the law at least three times. He first encountered legal problems in 1973 when he shot at trucks and shot a police helicopter on a highway near Youngstown, Ohio.
Holmes also was acquitted in 1976 in Amarillo, Texas, on charges of possession of narcotics. He had been charged with purchasing a container of cocaine in a hotel restroom while attending a wedding.
Holmes, who also was troubled by financinal problems during his career with the Steelers, was arrested in Phoenix in 1978 for drunken driving.
