La Plata, MD – Isaiah Noel Jordan, 18 of Waldorf, learned the consequences of his actions of 2016 in front of a judge. Last November Jordan and two accomplices allegedly beat a Waldorf man with a baseball bat. On Monday, July 31, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced him to 25 years for armed robbery with all but 18 months suspended.
The mother of the victim, who said her son still suffers from the attack eight months later, was adamant in her search for some semblance of relief in the courtroom.
“I don’t want to go home without giving my son some justice,” she said. “I don’t want his actions interpreted as something someone can get away with. The last time we were in court, he showed no remorse at all.”
The woman said the crime was made more difficult because the defendant’s family still lives in their neighborhood.
“Certainly the parents did the right thing by going to the authorities,” Charles County Assistant States Attorney Constance Kopelman told the court. “Their son was violently attacked.”
Kopelman said one of the co-defendants had already been sentenced to 18 months in jail. The other, she said, has since died in a car accident.
“Should this defendant get eighteen months?” Kopelman asked. “Absolutely.”
She also asked that Jordan be required to take anger management counseling following his release.
“He wasn’t in his right mind when this occurred,” Defense Counsel James McCollum Jr. argued.
The lawyer argued his client was planning a career in civil engineering and “had the grades to back it up.
“He has schools recruiting him,” McCollum said. “I would ask for a suspended sentence and probation before judgement.”
When West asked Jordan if he wanted to address the court, the defendant answered, “I don’t know what to say.”
“Me either,” West responded. “This is ridiculous.
“I believe part of the reason this sentence was negotiated in this way is because of his age,” the judge added. “When you’re young you do things there is no real explanation for. This is way over the line. There is a cruelness to this that doesn’t accompany most people in cases like this.”
West then imposed his sentence of 25 years with all but 18 months suspended, giving Jordan five years of supervised probation upon his release. The judge also ordered anger management classes upon his release and ordered him to have no contact with the victim.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com