Michael Wells, the 57-year-old Palm Coast resident at the center of a two-hour standoff with police on Brunswick Lane that ended with several felony charges last September was sentenced today to 21 months in prison followed by 24 months on drug-offender probation.
The incident had drawn a large response by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office after Wells had assaulted his wife of 27 years, tried to keep her from escaping and barricaded himself in the house, challenging law enforcement. He’d been drinking. Wells had lured a deputy just inside the entrance door, then retrieved a gun and held it straight up as he yelled at the deputy to get out of the house, an encounter that could have been deadly for either men.
He was charged with a second degree felony count of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, two third-degree felony counts from assaulting his wife, and a third degree felony charge for resisting arrest. He was subsequently charged with violating his no-contact order when he twice contacted his wife from the jail. (Their divorce was finalized last month.)
The sentence, pronounced by Circuit Judge Terence Perkins, was the result of a negotiated plea agreement and included a downward departure from the minimum three-year prison sentence his offenses otherwise called for, based on state sentencing guidelines. Since he had no prior offenses, the sentencing scoresheet lowered his prison eligibility. He’s been held at the Flagler County jail since the incident, giving him half a year’s credit (189 days). With gain time–or early release after serving 85 percent of his sentence)–he would end up serving just shy of a year in state prison.
“He had wanted to try to work out a way to stay working with the Smart program and had proposed a resolution to rework the plea agreement,” his lawyer Evan Altes said. The Smart program is an immersive addiction-recovery program at the jail that inmates strive to get into–and stay with (it is among the programs that earned the jail a national innovation award. “I let Mr. Wells know that essentially, if he’s asking to withdraw his plea, then that may be a bad idea as it would essentially result in an open plea.”
Assistant State Attorney Tara Libby had not agreed to the changes he was proposing, and his attorney had not filed a motion to withdraw the plea. Had Wells scrapped his plea, which he tendered on Feb. 20, then the sentence would have been left entirely up to the judge, and the lower sentence might have been in jeopardy.
JimboXYZ says
Maybe he gets his act together over nearly the next 4 years of his life ?
Carl Bertoch says
Aggravated assault on a Law Enforcement Officer (with a gun) should have been a first-degree felony no ifs, ands, or buts.
Beat on a woman (his wife) and I ‘d bet it wasn’t the first time.
Even with plea reduction, needs minimum 10 years to think about his life, with no time off for good behavior.
What a slap on the back of the hand….
Julie a clough says
I understand your frustration but I know this man personally and prior to this incident, he was not a career criminal, just the opposite in fact, volunteered for many things within the Palm Coast community, he had a complete mental break down and is now paying dearly. I agree what he did was horrible, but it does not define his entire person or personality. He has lost his family and his life as he knew it, he will pay for this for the remainder of his days. Believe me, I know.