The second of two men convicted of breaking into the dorm room of HCC Basketball Coach Steve Eck and robbing him was granted community corrections Thursday afternoon by Judge Trish Rose. Daniel Flamma-Sherman will be on corrections for 36-months with an underlying sentence of 57-months.
It was in January of last year when he entered a plea to a lesser offense of robbery, and aggravated burglary. The state dropped the aggravated part to the robbery charge, and also dropped charges of felony theft and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.
Flamma-Sherman was suspected of being the one who actually went into the coaches room while Coach Eck was sleeping and stealing from him. He was also expected to testify against the co-defendant Quantel Denson, but Denson entered a plea and was sentenced to 32-month in prison, then granted 36-months community corrections.
The state wanted prison for Flamma-Sherman noting that he was on probation for residential burglary when this crime happen, then while on bond awaiting sentencing, he was involved with a robbery in Kansas City, Mo., where a woman was robbed of her purse, wallet and cell phone by four men, one of which was Flamma-Sherman. He was believed the driver of the vehicle that helped the four get away.
But the defendant told the judge he’s been in jail for 10-months and is not that person anymore. He told the judge, “I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.” He admitted that he’s a follower, not a leader, but says he’s not this animal he’s being made out to be. He sobbed at times as he talked of his son and how he would hate to leave him hanging while he’s on prison.
The judge granted the defense request for the probation while telling the defendant that the crime he was convicted of in Kansas City was stupid and life threatening. She gave him 57-months for the robbery and 32-months for the aggravated burglary, but ran the two sentences concurrent to each other for the controlling sentence of 57-months.