BY Lori Pilger
Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Pine Ridge, South Dakota, man is going back to prison after lobbing tennis balls and socks filled with contraband over a prison fence in Lincoln within days of his release.
Donovan Youngman, 29, pleaded no contest to attempted delivery of marijuana, unlawful acts at the Department of Corrections and failure to appear.
On Dec. 28, 2023, staff at the Reception and Treatment Center found two tennis balls covered in duct tape and spray-painted white in the snow and four items of contraband wrapped in white socks inside the fence.
Surveillance video showed someone walking on the northwest side of the prison make six throwing motions toward RTC at 4:38 that morning.
Staff found them less than two hours later.
The tennis balls both had marijuana inside. The socks had two cell phones, a charger, a pack of Newport cigarettes, an L-shaped metal fitting and $1.28 in coins.
A State Patrol investigator learned an inmate had been using code words to discuss contraband being introduced into the prison around the same time and contacted an investigator with Walmart to see if any of the items had been bought there.
Prosecutors say it led to two suspects on video buying the cellphones: Donovan and Kelly McCormick, who earlier this year got three years of probation for his role in the crime.
At his sentencing Wednesday, his attorney Bill Chapin said he thinks there has been a substantial change in Youngman since this happened. He paraphrased his client saying he was young and “did something incredibly stupid.”
Youngman had been released from prison just four days earlier.
But Chapin said the realization was important and argued for probation.
He said at the jail Youngman has taken on responsibilities, worked as a porter, has taken classes and attended church services.
Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jason Cooper argued against probation saying Youngman had to be extradited from South Dakota twice.
Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret said while Youngman’s criminal history does not reflect well on him, he has availed himself of resources at the jail and earned a trusted position there.
“Those might seem like small things, but each small thing can build on the next, she said.
Maret told Youngman he knows what it’s like to do time, and it’s not going to be easy when he gets out. But he has a couple of years of maturity under his belt.
She sentenced him to six years in prison, gave him credit for 252 days served and wished him good luck, saying she didn’t want to see him back at the courthouse again.
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