Judge resentences man convicted as juvenile to 25 years in prison

CEDAR RAPIDS - Forced by law to resentence a man who was convicted as a juvenile of robbing and beating another man, a judge Tuesday handed him the same 25-year term - but the new sentence allows the defendant to be eligible for parole at any time.

Vincent Connors of Cedar Rapids had been sentenced to 25 years in prison after a Linn County jury convicted him of first-degree robbery in 2011. Connors had a mandatory 17 years to serve before being eligible for parole.

But because a 2014 Iowa law banned mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles, 6th Judicial District Judge Lars Anderson removed that mandatory time. That leaves Connors' release date up to the parole board.

In a hearing last month, Conners told a judge he wanted to apologize to the victim, Matthew Dostal, who he threatened with a gun as he demanded money and then - with the help of two other teens - beat and stabbed him in the side and back with a knife on Jan. 3, 2010.

'I also want to apologize to the community, it wasn't the right thing to do,” Connors, now 23, said. 'I regret that day, but I don't regret prison because it has helped me be a man.”

Dostal, a Penford employee, was walking home about 2:30 p.m. along First Street SW when robbed. Dostal didn't attend Tuesday's hearing, but he submitted a victim's impact statement to the court during the first sentencing in 2011.

Eric Tindal, Connor's attorney, told the judge last month the 'easy choice” for the court was to send Connors back to prison and let the parole board decide on his release, but that Connors needs counseling services he cannot receive behind bars.

Anderson said Tuesday this wasn't an easy decision. He reviewed the trial transcript, prison records and other documents on the case, and considered the testimony during last month's hearing. He also considered each of the factors required for resentencing, such as age, home environment, nature and circumstances of the crime and the possibility of rehabilitation.

Anderson said Connors has taken advantage of opportunities in prison to learn, getting his GED and taking job training. He said he believed Connors could benefit from more time in prison because it has been the most stability he has experienced.

Betsy Wilson, a mitigation specialist from Evanston, Ill., who works on sentencing advocacy in juvenile cases, testified last month about Connors' unstable home life, being shuffled to different homes and schools. He didn't have any stable male role models, she said. And his mother was a sophomore in high school when she became pregnant with Connors, but abused drugs and had symptoms of mental illness.