An Allegan County judge denied a motion to resentence a man who joined in a robbery and pistol-whipping of a Lee Township man at his home.
Corey Lee Eisner, 20, of Grand Junction was challenging an aspect of the sentencing guidelines Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker used to sentence him to nine to 25 years in state prison for armed robbery.
Bloomfield Hills lawyer Cecilia Quirindongo Baunsoe represented Eisner, who appeared by video chat from the state prison where he’s serving his sentence.
Baunsoe said, “The issue was that although the victim was elderly, Mr. Eisner was not aware of that fact in advance of the crime and did not exploit it in the commission of the crime.”
At his plea hearing, Eisner admitted he and another man went to the victim’s home and held him hostage while they stole a pistol, cash and jewelry and said his co-defendant had hit the victim with a pistol.
Baunsoe argued that the offense variable used to determine the advisory sentencing guidelines in the case should have been scored a zero and not 10 points. Sentencing guidelines in Michigan are advisory to judges now but defendants can typically have an easier time on appeal if they are disregarded.
Allegan County prosecutor Myrene Koch said she thought her written brief had handled most of the legal points, but that Eisner’s reported words during the attack showed that the 81-year-old victim’s age had been exploited.
“He referred to the victim as ‘Old Man’ and ‘Old Timer’ during the robbery and beating,” Koch said.
Bakker agreed with the prosecutor.
“The victim is present and, no offense sir, but you look like an older gentleman,” she said.
The fact the victim was elderly had obviously been exploited, Bakker said, because Eisner and his co-defendant had overpowered him by being younger and physically stronger.
The co-defendant, Joshua Lee Gibson, 30, of Grand Junction was sentenced to 12 to 21 years in state prison.
Contact Dan Pepper at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.
.