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60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, April 19, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 19, 2005 Man sentenced in Applegate home invasion By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A witness against two men convicted last month of robbing an Applegate gun collector was sentenced to prison Monday for his role in the crime. Kirby Lee Barker, 45, must spend seven years and six months in prison for first-degree robbery, kidnapping and theft. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May last year and agreed to testify for the state. Barker was instrumental in the March trial of Matthew Steven Phillips, 30, and Jeffrey Truman Shepherd, 25, prosecutor Judi Harper told Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Ray White. He should be treated differently from his co-defendants because he told the truth about the April 2002 crime against David Majors, Harper said. Majors told White that he felt no animosity for Barker. "If there is mercy to be shown, I feel that Kirby Barker is fully deserving," Majors said. Majors was tied up, blindfolded and prodded with shotgun barrels around his rural home as Barker, Phillips and Shepherd posed as federal agents seizing Majors’ cache of firearms. Suspected of luring Majors out of his home, Thomas Eddie Larson is awaiting trial in the case. Phillips and Shepherd are set to hear their sentence on May 6. Advertisement The identity of Majors’ assailants remained a mystery until a federal drug investigation in July 2002 at Barker’s Ford Lane home uncovered numerous firearms stolen from Majors. Barker implicated Phillips and Shepherd, who also had some of Majors’ guns in their possession. While White characterized Phillips as the mastermind behind the crime, he chastised Barker for his willingness to participate. "You should have been responsible enough to just quash it right then," White said. The judge also railed against the former mortgage broker’s methamphetamine addiction. "I don’t know what it takes to beat it, but you better find out," White said. Convicted last year of distributing the illegal drug, Barker and Shepherd are serving federal prison stints. Monday’s sentence does not extend Barker’s time in custody because White ordered him to serve it at the same time as the federal sentence of seven years and three months. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s