(May 21, 2008)—A former Georgetown police officer accused of raping a drunken woman while on duty in October has pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors.
Jimmy Lewis Fennell, Jr., 35, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of improper sexual activity with a person in custody Tuesday in a plea deal that recommends two years in state jail for the improper sexual activity charge and 10 years probation for the kidnapping charge.
Formal sentencing is June 24 in Georgetown.
Fennell would have to surrender his peace officer's license, but won't have to register as a sex offender under the deal.
Fennell could not immediately be reached for comment.
He was fired in December, and then put back on paid administrative leave.
He resigned in January.
The charges brought renewed attention to the 1996 death of Fennell's fiancée.
He was a suspect in the strangling of 19-year-old Stacey Stites in Bastrop County until investigators ruled him out.
At the time, he was a Giddings policeman.
The slaying led to the 1998 conviction of Rodney Reed, who is on Texas death row.
At the March hearing, Reed's attorneys argued the actual killer was Fennell.
Reed's attorney Bryce Benjet told the Austin American-Statesman that Fennell's plea agreement is relevant to his client's appeals.
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