His probation officer’s request that Jacob Michael Petley be sent to prison sat for two years.
NEW PORT RICHEY - Jacob Michael Petley first went on probation in November 1999, when he pleaded guilty to battery and burglary. By July 2002, after repeated violations and an arrest in a bar fight, Petley's probation officer was ready to wash his hands of him.
In a report to the court, Jeff Deremer echoed the sentiments of an earlier probation officer who had stated, "It is clearly evident that (Petley) is incapable of successfully completing any type of community control/probation program."
"The subject was just placed on probation in May 2002 and has already violated with a new offense," Deremer went on. "The subject's case seems to be continual problems with continual law violations.
"This writer believes that if the subject is released on any type of probationary sanctions, it would be a risk to the community at this time."
Deremer asked that Petley have his probation revoked and be sentenced to 80 months in prison.
His recommendation sat for nearly two years. Petley's probation was never revoked during that time. And when his court date on the bar fight charge came around this April, Petley, 23, disappeared.
It was the latest chapter for a man whose felony history dates back to age 12, when a judge found him guilty of two counts of armed burglary. More charges followed him into his adult years: battery, battery on a person older than 65 years, carrying a concealed firearm, criminal mischief, trespassing, armed burglary and burglarizing an occupied structure.
He had continually scored for prison time, but never received a sentence within the guidelines.
After a November 1999 plea on burglary and battery charges, Petley received a year in the county jail, with credit for time served, two years of house arrest and two years of probation. The sentencing guidelines called for a minimum sentence of seven years and three months in prison and a maximum of life, according to court records.
He was furloughed from jail in May 2000 and told to complete his jail sentence on the weekends. Petley continued to violate the rules of his probation. He burglarized U-Haul storage units, moved without telling his probation officer, smashed his GPS monitor and failed drug tests.
He pleaded guilty to violation of community control in March 2001 and received two more years of community control, one year of probation and 90 days in jail.
The following July, Petley received a five-year suspended prison sentence for previous probation violations and one additional year of probation.
He then kicked down the door of his girlfriend's home and smashed the windshield of her father's car in September 2001. Petley received five years' concurrent drug offender probation in May 2002. He was arrested on two separate battery charges soon after.
In preparation for his court date on a charge that he instigated a fight at Hudson's Tropics bar, he wrote to the judge, asking for mercy: He told of his deceased mother, his broken home, his wayward youth, his mistakes and his hope for the future. He said he was trying to keep the peace in the bar fight.
But when that court date came, he went missing for two weeks, then was rearrested in early May. On June 3, a judge sentenced Petley to nine years in prison.
Petley's mental health may play a role in the probation sentences. In 1998, a psychiatrist said Petley experienced "auditory hallucinations."
His stepmother, Jeanette Petley, wrote the judge in January, telling of Petley's mental illnesses and his need for treatment.
"Your honor, Jake doesn't need prison. He needs a medical facility to treat all of his disorders. He needs an inpatient facility - NOT HOME."
She continued, "I also believe that if the courts ordered Jake into a mental health facility years ago he would have had a chance at a normal life."
