Judge Bert Rice ruled Tuesday morning that Daniel Wilson, a former Brewton Middle School teacher and T.R. Miller coach who pleaded guilty in March to distribution of a controlled substance, will stay in jail.

Wilson had filed a motion last month seeking reconsideration of his sentence. Wilson was indicted in 2009 with charges of distribution of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) and possession of drug paraphernalia. Rice noted in his denial of Wilson’s motion Tuesday that Wilson had been facing nearly 40 years in prison when he took a plea deal which amounted to a split sentence on the distribution charge, two years in prison and three years on supervised probation.

Wilson is serving his sentence at the Loxley Work Center in Baldwin County.

“At this time I’m going to deny the motion,” Rice said. “We want to see people successful. Sometimes it’s a row to hoe. At this point, the court is please with what I have seen, but I want to see more. I want no disciplinaries. I want to see that you can be a leader. There are times when peopel can rise to a level, and I encourage you to continue to do well.”

For more on this story, see Wednesday’s edition of The Brewton Standard.