By Alabama Public Radio
Prattville, AL – Leon Caver of Autaugaville wwas sentenced to 34 years in prison for shooting his nephew, who was also a senior naval adviser for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. At a sentencing hearing Wednesday in Prattville, Circuit Judge John Bush ordered Caver to prison for the fatal shooting of Navy Captain Fernandez "Frank" Ponds in October 2004.
Prosecutors said Ponds, who serves as a senior naval adviser to Rice, was taking down Christmas lights at his elderly grandmother's home in Autaugaville when he was shot three times. Prosecutors said Caver was angry that Pond's grandmother willed her five-acre estate to Ponds and not him.