A 61-year-old Gibson County man who was given a second chance in 2023 will now spend the next 10 years in prison after a judge found he violated the terms of his supervised probation. Circuit Court Judge Clayburn Peeples revoked Troy Sollis's probation on August 19 and ordered him to serve his full sentence in Tennessee Department of Correction custody.
Sollis pleaded guilty on September 7, 2023, to possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell or deliver, a Class B felony under Tennessee law that typically carries eight to 12 years in prison. Rather than sending him straight to prison, the court gave him supervised probation, which came with conditions including completion of moral reconation classes, drug counseling, drug screening, and maintaining employment, according to a statement from The Office of the District Attorney General, 28th Judicial District. Moral Reconation Therapy is a cognitive-behavioral program developed in Tennessee in 1985 that the state widely uses to try to reduce recidivism among felony offenders, per the Moral Reconation Therapy program.
That arrangement fell apart after Sollis's probation officer filed a violation of probation warrant based on a new arrest. According to the district attorney's office, Sollis was charged on December 26, 2025, with felony evading arrest with risk to others, and he also tested positive for methamphetamine while under supervision.
Prosecutors Say Second Chance Was Squandered
District Attorney General Frederick H. Agee said the original probation arrangement was meant to give Sollis a real opportunity to stay out of prison and get rehabilitated, but that he failed to hold up his end. Agee said Sollis failed to abide by the terms of his suspended sentence by accruing new criminal charges and continuing to use illegal drugs. As a result, Agee said, Sollis will now serve his sentence in Tennessee Department of Correction custody.
Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-16-603, fleeing from a law enforcement officer in a vehicle in a manner that creates a risk of death or injury to bystanders or pursuing officers is itself a Class D felony, punishable by two to 12 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 60 days confinement, according to FindLaw. That new felony charge, combined with the failed drug screen, meant Sollis's case was treated as a non-technical violation of his release conditions.
Why Judges Have Broad Power to Revoke
Under Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 40-35-310 and 40-35-311, once a circuit court judge determines by a preponderance of the evidence that a probationer violated release conditions through a new law violation, the judge has the statutory authority to revoke probation entirely and order the original suspended sentence carried out, without credit for time already served on probation, per FindLaw. Non-technical violations like new felony charges are exempt from statutory caps on jail time that apply to more minor, technical infractions, which gives trial judges full discretion to revoke probation completely, according to the Brooks Law Firm.
Tennessee appellate court records show Sollis had prior convictions in Gibson County Circuit Court on two counts of possession of over 0.5 grams of methamphetamine, according to the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. That history sits alongside Agee's broader enforcement approach in the 28th Judicial District, which covers roughly 85,000 residents across Crockett, Gibson and Haywood counties.
A District Touting a Zero-Homicide Year
In January, Agee publicly credited a record reduction in severe crime across the district to his office's policy of aggressively pursuing probation and bond revocations against offenders who continue violating their release terms, according to the Tennessee Bar Association. In 2025, the 28th Judicial District was the only one of Tennessee's 32 judicial districts to report zero homicides, a milestone local prosecutors tied in part to strict probation monitoring and firm judicial oversight, as reported by WATN-TV.
Judge Peeples, who presided over Sollis's revocation hearing, has served on the bench in the 28th Judicial District since 2000, following an 18-year tenure as the district's own District Attorney General from 1982 to 2000, according to Haywood County Government. It's the same judge and prosecutor pairing behind other recent Gibson County cases, including a denied retrial in a Milan case and a 12-year sentence handed down last year for cocaine and firearm charges.
Sollis's case now moves forward under the terms Judge Peeples set on August 19: a full 10-year term in Tennessee Department of Correction custody, with no credit for time spent on probation.
