Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Man paralyzed by cop gets probation for drugs
A year ago, Dontrell Stephens was elated and tearful after a federal jury awarded him $23.1 million as the victim of a shooting by a Palm Beach County sheriff ’s deputy.
But in a different courtroom Monday, Stephens had a solemn expression as he sat in his wheelchair, a newly convicted felon because of three recent drug crimes. He has yet to receive even one dollar from the judgment, lowered to $22.4 million.
Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley sentenced the 23-year-old Royal Palm Beach man to two years of probation, which requires
the first nine months to be spent in jail. Stephens got a break, however, and prequalified to be placed on house arrest instead, beginning Tuesday.
Attorney Ian Goldstein says it could have been much worse for his paralyzed client, because when Stephens was arrested in October, the original charges were punishable by up to almost life in prison.
Goldstein told reporters Stephens — caught selling illegal drugs to undercover officers — wouldn’t survive long in prison because of his shooting injuries. So Goldstein negotiated the plea deal with prosecutor John Parnofiello.
“We felt that this was in his best interest,” the defense lawyer said, encouraged that Stephens has a large support group to help him cope with house arrest and his medical needs.
The judge warned Stephens that violating probation could expose him to the maximum possible punishment of 25 years in prison for the convictions: Sale of cocaine, sale of marijuana, and a third count of selling a “substance” in place of an illegal drug.
In this case, it was overthe-counter cough syrup.
“So if I sold you a piece of soap and I told you it was crack, that’s a third-degree felony,” Goldstein said.
Earlier in the case, prosecutors decided not to pursue more serious charges, including the sale of heroin and other drugs within 1,000 feet of a day care center.
Goldstein stood by a statement he made last year that his client was being “targeted” by the Sheriff’s Office because of his continuing efforts to collect the jury award from nearly a year ago.
“It’s clear where these charges came from and he was targeted, but despite that he’s taken responsibility for his actions,” Goldstein said. “The Sheriff ’s Office had created these charges. … This was a coordinated effort to try to send him to prison for a long time.”
Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the Sheriff ’s Office, has said the allegations against Stephens stood on their own merits.
“His attorney is entitled to his opinion. If you read the [reports], this subject sold drugs on several different occasions,” she said.
Stephens was accused of selling $20 worth of heroin, which agents later discovered to have traces of cocaine, on Oct. 3.
And on Oct. 11 Stephens, who goes by the street name “Mike,” sold agents $60 worth of marijuana, according to his arrest report.
On Oct. 12, an undercover agent arranged to meet Stephens in a parking lot about 380 feet from a YMCA on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard. The deal was supposed to be for $140 in marijuana and $60 worth of heroin, an arrest report said. When the two met, the female agent gave Stephens $200, the report said.
Stephens would later tell her he couldn’t get heroin and replaced it with another drug that had codeine syrup, according to the report.
The drugs tested positive for marijuana and dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant, investigators said.
Nearly three years earlier, on Sept. 13, 2013, Deputy Adams Lin pulled over Stephens for a bicycle infraction.
Lin fired four shots, later saying he feared for his life. Stephens, then 20, had been holding only a broken cellphone, not a weapon.
Three bullets remain lodged in Stephens’ body, two in his arm and one in his spine that left him unable to walk.
He sued Lin, now a sergeant, and the Sheriff’s Office.
In a trial early last year in federal court, a jury found Lin acted unreasonably or with excessive force when he shot the unarmed man four times in four seconds.
The Sheriff ’s Office is appealing the verdict. If the agency is unsuccessful, Stephen’s lawyers can seek $200,000 from the agency. But any money after that amount must be approved by the Florida Legislature.
In November, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer ruled that none of Lin’s $82,400 in wages should be garnished to help pay off the judgment because he proved he was “head of a family” because he provides more than half of the support for his young daughter. His overtime pay is exempt, too.
That led to a recent battle over Lin’s personal possessions, which Stephen’s lawyers hoped to sell at an auction.
On Jan. 7, federal marshals seized Lin’s car, couch, coffee tables, end tables, lamps, a collection of Samurai swords, a flat-screen TV, iron, ironing board, computer, golf clubs, bicycle, tools, and almost all of his non-Sheriff’s Office clothing, according to Stephens’ civil attorney Jack Scarola.
But then on Jan. 18, Seltzer ordered the “expeditious return” of Lin’s property and that there would be “no further seizures at [his] residence.”
The judge said a courtappointed appraiser determined the value of Lin’s items, aside from a 2014 Dodge Challenger, were worth less than $5,000, the legal amount afforded to those in debt to ensure they are not left destitute. Lin has less than $1,000 equity in the car, because of loan debt.
The judge also ruled Stephens’ attorneys must pay for the cost of the seizure, plus Lin’s attorneys’ fees.
Concerning his client’s criminal case, Goldstein expects Stephens to avoid further trouble.
“Dontrell has made tremendous strides,” Goldstein said. “Having the support he has in the community … I think has had a huge impact and I think he’s going to do well.”