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Ex-bondsman gets four years on probation; originally received 25-year sentenceBy Ron Bartlett
PALATKA -- Danny Buch-anan was sentenced to 48 months probation on Monday, ending the court saga of the former Palatka bail bondsman originally given 25 years for aggravated battery with a gun.
“I would just like to thank everyone in Palatka for their support,” Buchanan said after the trial. “It means the world to me. This is what makes Palatka such a wonderful place and I’m proud to call it my home.”
Buchanan was originally sentenced in May 2005 after shooting a former client, Kevin Brinson, in the buttocks. Under Florida’s “10, 20, Life” law, he was sentenced to 25 years for being convicted of a felony by firing a gun and striking someone in the course of the act.
Buchanan was granted a new trial after a successful appeal in September 2005. Instead of proceeding to trial, he entered a plea of “no contest” in June to a lesser charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His sentencing for that charge was Monday in Judge Edward Hedstrom’s courtroom.
Buchanan, who had already served 13 months of his original punishment, could have received a minimum sentence of 51 months in prison for the new charge, but the State Attorney’s office did not object to a reduced sentence, provided all criteria for a “downward departure” were met.
Before the sentencing, Buchanan’s attorney, Ronald Clark, quoted Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol and compared it to Buchanan’s time served.
“All that we know who lie in gaol (jail) is that the wall is strong,” he said. “And that each day is like a year — a year whose days are long.”
Daniel Martinez, Buchanan’s neighbor for 37 years, asked the court to allow Buchanan to return to a “useful, productive, active life.”
“Since his release from Lake Butler prison, (Buchanan) has learned a lifetime of lessons,” he said. “No further lessons need to be learned.”
At the time of the sentencing, Judge Hedstrom said that he looked closely at the sentencing statute and what the court should consider in determining a downward departure. He added that a departure is discouraged unless there is a reasonable justification.
“The matter before this court is to fashion a sentence that would be fair before anybody, black, white, rich or poor,” said Hedstrom, speaking to Buchanan. “It would serve no useful purpose for you to return to prison. By the same token, it would set an improper precedent for (sentencing) time served.”
Hedstrom then levied a sentence of 48 months, to be reviewed in 24 months. Buchanan will also have to pay court costs and be subject to drug and alcohol testing.
“I’m ecstatic,” Clark said. “I think the judge had the experience to make the right decision and really agonized over the (ruling).”
Clark said that one of the considerations for the downward departure was the payment of restitution to the victim, which they have a receipt for. The amount paid was confidential.