Sean M. Ferrel listens to lawyers and the judge as he learns he is about to be released from jail.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Both the prosecution and the defense agreed to a sentence even lower than the standard due to ongoing mental health issues for a man who walked into a rural Centralia home with a serrated steak knife in his hand.
Sean M. Ferrel, 43, from Bremerton interrupted a couple at the residence near the far end of Little Hanaford Road, and was held at gunpoint until law enforcement arrived early last summer.
Ferrel made a so-called Alford plea to first-degree burglary, and appeared before a judge yesterday to be sentenced.
The man who was just passing through Lewis County, and now plans to head south to California has been waiting in the Lewis County Jail for more than a year now, and should be released with time served, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge.
“I’ve spoken with the victim and the victim is on board,” Halstead said yesterday morning. “He doesn’t want to testify, he has other things going on.”
Halstead asked the judge to order Ferrel to get evaluated for and comply with substance abuse and mental health treatment.
Defense attorney Sam Groberg said his client had been to Western State Hospital three times since his arrest.
“He still has ongoing mental health issues he continues to deal with,” Groberg said.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler said what he heard made sense. He agreed to the recommendation, and imposed 384 days.
But Lawler told the defendant he would be on community custody with the state Department of Corrections for 18 months.
“That means you need to check in with DOC at the Lewis County Mall when you get out,” Lawler said.
He put in place a no contact order regarding the victim and explained to Ferrel he now had two strikes against him.
“That mean, if you have a third strike, you’ll go to prison for the rest of your life,” Lawler said.
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For background, read “Stranger with knife walks into rural Centralia home” from Friday June 27, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter