Amputee could face five years

His lawyer says there are myriad reasons for leniency toward Michael Francis Wiley.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published June 26, 2007

Michael Wiley demonstrates how he drives in the driveway of his Port Richey home. Wiley lost both arms and part of a leg in an accident when he was 13 and has since then racked up one of the worst driving histories in the history of Pasco County.
	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Brendan Fitterer] Wiley, 40, pleaded no contest Monday morning to a host of driving and drug charges. He will be sentenced Aug. 2, but the judge capped whatever sentence he'll face at five years.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Michael Francis Wiley is best known for two remarkable facts:

First, that he overcame a horrific childhood accident that left him with no arms and just one leg and that he taught himself to drive with his stumps.

And second, that Wiley spent the last 23 years using his hard-won independence to become Pasco County's most notorious traffic scofflaw.

But defense attorney John Hooker hopes to convince a judge that there's far more to Wiley's life than just driving — and doing so illegally.

Wiley, 40, pleaded no contest Monday morning to a host of driving and drug charges. He will be sentenced Aug. 2, but the judge capped whatever sentence he'll face at five years.

Wiley could have faced up to 40 consecutive years, but he turned down a plea deal Monday with a five-year prison sentence. Instead, he will ask for leniency from Circuit Judge William Webb.

"We have stuff that we want to present to the court in regard to his medical and mental condition," Hooker said, "that if we had entered into a plea agreement we would not have been able to get it to the judge. It wouldn't have mattered."

There was another reason Wiley pleaded no contest to four felony counts of driving with a suspended license, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, fleeing and eluding and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia:

"He was guilty," Hooker said, although he said his client disputed officers' accounts of one traffic charge.

The case for leniency starts with the electrical accident that left Wiley a triple-amputee at age 13.

"He fell three stories on his back when he got electrocuted," the Tampa attorney said, "which caused tremendous damage to his neck and back."

Wiley has lived in constant pain — and on constant medication — ever since, the lawyer said, which led to addictions to drugs both legal and illegal.

There will be mental health issues to consider, too.

Wiley takes antipsychotic and antidepressant medication, Hooker said, and is being treated for anxiety. The lawyer could not offer a specific diagnosis of his client, but said Wiley's mental health and drug issues will be evaluated before sentencing.

If the judge doesn't send him to prison, Wiley has secured a bed in an inpatient drug treatment facility at Operation PAR, Hooker said.

"The best-case scenario would be to put him in PAR," the lawyer said.

It's been rough for Wiley behind bars. He was hospitalized in May and "almost died" with a 106 degree fever, Hooker said.

Wiley still has several unresolved misdemeanor charges for worthless checks and violating probation. Hooker said a decision on those charges will be made Wednesday.

Wiley has been jailed without bail since his latest arrest May 9 — a day after authorities say he eluded two police cruisers in another chase.

Processing a defendant who has no fingerprints proved challenging Monday.

So the judge ordered bailiffs to get an ink print of Wiley's lone remaining limb — his right foot.

Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or 727 869-6236.

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 21:31:13]