A Tarboro man convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 1995 was denied parole and will not be considered for the Mutual Agreement Parole Program (MAPP).

Delvin Dickens, 36, was convicted of the Sept. 16, 1994 shooting death of Tarboro's Keith Andre Watson.

The state's Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission said Dickens' next parole review will take place on or about May 28, 2009.

In North Carolina, only inmates who committed their crimes before Oct. 1, 1994 are eligible for the MAPP scholastic and educational program. Crimes committed after that date fall under the state's current sentencing law, Structured Sentencing.

Under Structured Sentencing, inmates must serve out the entire sentence given to them by the courts.

"Structured Sentencing eliminates parole for crimes committed on or after Oct. 1, 1994," said Patsy R. Joiner, parole case analyst for the state. "However, the commission has the responsibility of paroling offenders who were sentenced under previous sentencing guidelines."

However, this does not guarantee that inmates will receive early release. Factors such as the nature of the crime committed, as well as the inmate's behavior during his incarceration, will determine whether or not the inmate will be released or qualify for programs like MAPP.

Dickens had been cited for three infractions during his prison sentence, the last of which occurred in March 2002.

Dickens was first incarcerated in Pamlico Correctional Institute, a minimum-security facility in Bayboro.

He is currently serving his sentence at Nash Correctional Institute, a minimum-security prison in Nashville.

Victims of these offenders can be notified of and become involved in the parole review process.

Any victim who would like to be notified, can submit a written request for notification of pending investigations or decisions in a case to the North Carolina Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.

Victims may become involved in a case in two different ways.

First, victims may express their opinions about a case in writing at any time. These letters are included in the offenders file, and the commissioners take the letters into consideration during the decision-making process.

Also, victims of violent crimes whose offenders are in medium or minimum-security prisons have the right to appear before the commission in Raleigh to present information they feel is important for the commissioners to hear.