A federal judge in Birmingham today sentenced a Jefferson County, Alabama, man to 21 years in prison for selling crack cocaine.
U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler ordered Jesse Henderson, 47, to report to the U.S. Marshal's Office in Birmingham in 30 days to begin his sentence. Henderson pleaded guilty to selling 50 grams of crack cocaine in 2007 to a confidential informant working for the federal government. Henderson has since provided information to the government that has led to other indictments.
Henderson faced life in prison, but prosecutors recommended a lesser sentence because of his cooperation.
The father of seven said he learned the drug trade from his father and went into the business himself because of his children. "You work and try to make ends meet to try to provide for them and sometimes it doesn't work," Henderson told the judge. "So you do thing you know aren't right."
Coogler said Henderson's attempt to help his family, hurt someone else's.
"You are hurting other people's children when you sell cocaine," Coogler said. "You are helping your family at the expense of someone else and that's not acceptable behavior."