Whiteside pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter, receives 21 years

Knox County political benefactor Troy Whiteside on Thursday pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, roughly six years after he gunned down a business rival outside what prosecutors suggested was a gambling den.

He was sentenced to 21 years in prison and must serve 35 percent of it, or about 7 years and four months, before he is eligible for parole. However, he can get out earlier if he receives time for good behavior.

The deal, worked out by his defense attorney and the state, was approved by Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood. It was handled by the office of 3rd Judicial District Attorney General Dan Armstrong, whose district consists of Hamblen, Green, Hawkins and Hancock counties, since a number of Knox County judges and the Knox County District Attorney General's Office recused itself previously.

Whiteside, who fatally shot Reginald “Stacy” sudderth in August 2009, was immediately led away in handcuffs after the agreement was approved.

“Mr. Whiteside and his family are very sympathetic to the Sudderth family,” said defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs. “He is very remorseful that a life was taken, but he has accepted responsibility. At the end of the day, this was a killing based on provocation.”

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