A Kearns man has waived extradition before 3rd Circuit Judge Philip K. Palmer and will be returned to Texas to face an armed robbery charge for which another man already has been jailed.
Ricky Lawrence Knox, 22, 4287 S. 3960 West, was arrested April 19 without incident after an anonymous caller told police Knox's location following broadcast of the CBS program "Street Stories." The program profiled a California man who says he was unjustly convicted of a Sulphur Springs, Texas, robbery. The program showed Knox's photograph and suggested Knox may have been responsible for the robbery.Texas authorities have 10 days to take custody of Knox, who is currently being held in the Salt Lake County jail.
Richard Thomas, 29, Chula Vista, Calif., was sentenced to life in prison for the Oct. 20 robbery of Ina LeMasters. Thomas says work records in California show he was at work for more than six hours on that day, that he picked up and cashed his paycheck that day and he dropped off laundry to a dry cleaners the afternoon of the robbery. More than a dozen people have also said they spoke with Thomas in California on that day.
The life sentence was based partly on Thomas' past criminal history and a Texas law that allows harsher penalties in crimes committed against senior citizens.
The photo used in the television program came from a security camera that recorded the robbery.