JOHNNY D. BRYAN, II, a/k/a JOHNNY DELL BRYAN, JR., (d/o/b 03-08-1976) of Forsyth, Missouri, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, June 16, 2014, in the Circuit Court of Stone County, to felony charges of resisting a lawful stop, assault on a law enforcement officer in the second degree, armed criminal action, and tampering with a motor vehicle. Associate Circuit Judge Alan Blankenship – hearing the case on a change of venue – sentenced Bryan to ten (10) years for the offenses of assault of a law enforcement officer in the second degree, armed criminal action, and tampering with a motor vehicle, and to seven (7) years for resisting arrest – all as a prior and persistent felony offender. Bryan’s sentences will run concurrently with one another and were the result of a plea agreement with the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office.

The charges stem from a December 6, 2012 incident in which deputies with the Taney County Sheriff’s Office were attempting to serve Bryan with an outstanding arrest warrant. When contacted by the deputies while he was sleeping in a stolen vehicle, Bryan started the vehicle, and attempted to back over the deputies. Bryan fled the scene and led several law enforcement agencies on a high speed chase – including the Taney and Christian County Sheriff’s Departments – with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, along U.S. Highway 65, north into Christian County. Bryan eventually dumped the vehicle and fled on foot. He was captured several days later following a standoff at a home in Powersite, Missouri.

Assault on a law enforcement officer in the second degree and tampering with a motor vehicle are class C felonies, ordinarily carrying a maximum prison term of seven (7) years. Resisting a lawful stop, as charged in Bryan’s case, is a class D felony, ordinarily carrying a maximum prison term of four (4) years. However, because Bryan was charged as a prior and persistent felony offender, the maximum possible prison terms on his charges were enhanced to fifteen (15) years on the C felonies and seven (7) years on the D felony. Armed Criminal Action carries a minimum sentence of three (3) years in prison with no maximum.