When the national media circus covering the John Couey trial comes to town in the next few days, one man will be standing on the sidelines trying to catch the attention of a reporter, preferably one of the TV big shots.

It is part of Ron Lundberg's tireless mission to win justice and freedom for a young man he believes has been railroaded by the legal system. A young man serving hard time for a minor crime. A man Lundberg has never even met.

The case that holds such a grip on Lundberg's soul should be a familiar one to Citrus County: Adam Bollenback, then 17 years old, sent to prison in 2002 for 10 years for stealing a six-pack of beer from a neighbor's garage refrigerator.

Like many people in the county, Lundberg was outraged by the sentence that Circuit Judge Ric Howard passed on Bollenback. He was especially incensed by the judge telling the teen that "This sentence is going to break your spirit right now" - unnecessarily harsh words for a defendant dealing with mental problems.

Unlike just about everyone except for Bollenback's family, however, Lundberg did not just shrug his shoulders and move on when the judge refused to reconsider the sentence. He has continued to champion the cause of getting Bollenback released from prison.

Lundberg helped gather signatures on petitions and went before a committee of the state clemency review board in January to plead for Bollenback. His request for clemency was denied.

With no obvious options left, Lundberg is hoping that the national media in town for the Couey murder trial might take an interest in Bollenback's case. Some high-profile media pressure might, in turn, get Gov. Jeb Bush to pardon Bollenback as he leaves office.

Considering that Bush is on record of supporting the clemency board's decision in the case, Lundberg's effort is the longest of shots. But it is one he is willing to take.

"Adam is the poster child for what can happen to a person with mental illness, " said Lundberg, a 71-year-old retiree from Beverly Hills.

The injustice of the sentence, he said, drew him to the Bollenback case. "This case is an embarrassment to the justice system."

He has since become a board member for the Citrus chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness. While NAMI supports him and Bollenback, Lundberg said, he is working independently to bring the case before the national press.

But the retired computer company executive is new to the arena of spin and media hype. He has written to media celebrities such as Greta Van Susteren of Fox News, who is expected to devote large portions of her cable TV legal issues show to the Couey case, but has received no response.

His letters point out the seeming lack of fairness between the sentence that Bollenback is serving and those of national figures such as former member of Congress Duke Cunningham, convicted in a massive bribery scandal.

Lundberg's message is simple: Bollenback's punishment does not fit the crime. But his timing and tone might be off, he fears.

"Right now, their focus is on Couey," he said. He is trying to show that Howard went overboard in punishing Bollenback, "but that doesn't ring well now because the public wants him to be harsh with Couey."

Yet this may be the best, and only, chance that he will have to get widespread exposure for the case. "I'm running out of options," he said. "I'm only one guy, a squeaky wheel."

So, he intends to head to the courthouse and try to get a TV reporter to read the information packet he has prepared about the Bollenback case. Perhaps during the downtime during the trial, some TV talking head might want to delve into this and other notorious rulings by the judge in the Couey case.

All Lundberg can do is put the info out there and hope for the best.

"There are three kinds of people in the world," he said. "Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who ask, "What happened?' "

- Greg Hamilton can be reached at (352) 8860-7301 or at hamilton@sptimes.com

When Circuit Judge Ric Howard sent Adam Bollenback to prison in 2002, he did so with the stated intention of aiming to "break (Bollenback's) spirit."

How he intends to measure the success of that strategy remains unclear. If the goal was to scare the Inverness teenager, then Howard may well have succeeded. Being stabbed in the neck with an ice pick wielded by a fellow inmate tends to create that result.

It is less likely that Bollenback is coming around to Howard's view that an outrageously outsized prison sentence is commensurate with justice. Serving 10 years in an adult prison for the petty crime of stealing a six-pack of beer tends to generate feelings of being abused, not helped, by the judicial system.

Bollenback's case has stood as the local gold standard of unfair and inappropriate sentences by Howard until being eclipsed by the recent William Thornton ruling. Bollenback, however, should not be allowed to languish anonymously in his imposed hell for years to come simply because his case no longer is front-page news.

Like Thornton, Bollenback is seeking justice outside the Citrus County Courthouse. On Thursday, he will get a chance at freedom and at rebuilding his life when the Florida Board of Executive Clemency is scheduled to consider his clemency request.

The four-member board, led by Gov. Jeb Bush, should waste no time in granting Bollenback's release.

Strict law-and-order types may carp that Bollenback is a criminal and deserves punishment. And they have a point. Up to a point.

Bollenback did commit the crimes for which he was convicted, and they were not the first blemishes on his record. He has a record as a juvenile of battery and assault, although the circumstances of those offenses (he was charged with aggravated assault after throwing a stick, for example) raise legitimate questions about the fairness of the charges against him.

The crimes for which Howard sentenced Bollenback in 2002 involved stealing a six-pack of beer from the open garage of a neighbor who later said that had she known at the time that such a harsh sentence was a possibility she never would have called the police.

The teenager also managed to slip away briefly from a deputy who was taking him to jail, which says as much about the deputy's actions as it does Bollenback's.

Bollenback also has been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, and his mother told the judge that the offenses occurred when he was off of his medications. This aspect of the case should have received the court's attention, but it was ignored.

The state Department of Corrections considered Bollenback's crimes and record and recommended that the 17-year-old wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet for two years. The Department of Juvenile Justice recommended a short term in a juvenile detention facility.

Howard rejected all of that pertinent information and chose to use Bollenback to send a message not just to the teen but to the community at large that he will be tough on crime. Bollenback's life was to be sacrificed in order to make a statement.

While we want our judges to be firm and no-nonsense, we demand that they also be fair and to dispense justice with compassion and an understanding of the facts of the case. Howard's sentence failed those tests.

Even those who would side with Howard must concede that having served 40 months in prison, Bollenback has more than paid back society for his crimes. It is now up to the state Board of Executive Clemency to correct this gross error and to save this young man's life.

One scene from my favorite movie, "The Sound of Music," occurs when Maria is at a picnic with the Von Trapp children and one kid says he hadn't had this much fun since putting glue on the previous governess's toothbrush.

Maria wonders why these children would do such a thing. The oldest one answers: "How else do we get Father's attention?"

I've been thinking about this lately, even though my recent obsession with the movie has ended. Who else do we know who does bizarre things that fly in the face of logic, only to find himself getting big-time attention?

Circuit Court Richard "Ric" Howard.

This is the judge who has decided society is best served by sending a mentally ill young man to prison for 10 years for stealing beer and running from the cops.

What is Judge Howard thinking?

He must love the attention. Really, what other explanation can there be?

From what I hear, Howard is highly regarded in the courthouse. He is respected, quiet, doesn't fuss about the furnishings and is a gentleman.

So how does someone like that think kids with mental illness are better off in prison than getting the help they deserve?

We all know the Adam Bollenback story. This is the kid - now 19 - who stole beer and tried to escape from a police car. He had prior battery arrests, something not at all uncommon for teens with behavioral disorders.

Bollenback reportedly has bipolar disorder and wasn't taking his medication like he should. Shame on him for that, no doubt.

As previously written, I have depression. Diagnosed about six years ago, I take medication and see an excellent psychiatrist four times a year. At first it was four times a month.

The medication is a stabilizer, more like an antibiotic for my brain. Doesn't affect me one bit - unless I don't take it.

I was on vacation a few weeks ago and skipped a few doses. I was having fun, relaxed and all that, figured I didn't need the drug since life was cool. Problem was, when I returned home, I was facing more than the blues that comes with the end of vacation. I was bummed beyond belief.

It was the lack of medication and I knew it.

Taking drugs for depression is sometimes depressing in itself. It's like, "I must be pretty weak if I can't make it through a few days without it." My shrink tells me that view is common with his patients, but the truth is, sometimes life is just that way.

No way am I comparing bipolar to my little depression, but the idea is the same. Must stay on the medication. Must keep seeing the experts. It may be for a year. It may be for five years. It may be forever.

It is absolutely critical that those with mental illness seek help; in fact, they have a responsibility to do it. I truly believe that.

Sometimes, though, stuff happens and they skip a few or more doses. When that happens, behavior changes - often for the much worse. I'd bet that's what happened to Adam Bollenback.

Did Judge Howard understand that? I don't know. I only know the result: Ten years up the river.

I'd like to get 50 people in one room, people without law degrees or specialists - regular people - to explain why that prison sentence is justice. I want real reasons. Actual logic.

So I'm thinking today, the Fourth of July (my favorite holiday), about Judge Howard and Adam Bollenback. On the day we celebrate our freedom, I'm perplexed.

Some people really thrive on negative publicity. One look at former County Judge Gary Graham proves that point. The more publicity he received, the weirder his court sentences became.

I'm not suggesting Howard is Gary Graham II. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

Still, you've got to wonder. Does Judge Howard actually believe this is how we should treat the mentally ill? Or is he basking in the limelight?

Either way, we're paying attention, all right. Hope he's happy.

Mike Wright is a senior reporter and assistant editor for the Citrus County Chronicle.

He can be reached at 563-3228; or mwright@chronicleonline.com

The case of Adam Bollenback has resonated with Citrus County residents like few others have because it contains all the ingredients needed for full-blown outrage, no matter what side you are on.

Looking for evidence of overzealous prosecutors and hard-hearted judges? Defense attorneys who hang their clients out to dry? A legal system that tramples people with special needs, particularly those with mental health issues? You can find plenty of ammo for your arguments in this case.

Do you think some defendants use these hard-to-define conditions as excuses to avoid paying for their crimes? That multiple offenders deserve to have the book thrown at them? That people who don't understand how the system works leap to inaccurate conclusions based on that lack of knowledge or biased media reports? It's all there, too.

For nearly three hours Wednesday, many of those issues were on display as Bollenback returned to Circuit Judge Ric Howard's courtroom seeking to get out from under the 10-year prison sentence Howard imposed in August 2002. In the end, the 19-year-old was sent back to his cell, shuffling his shackled feet as family members tearfully waved goodbye.

Any doubt about Wednesday's eventual outcome evaporated as the testimony played itself out. At issue was whether Bollenback received effective representation from his attorney, Jim Cummins, during his 2002 trial. Despite the best efforts of Bollenback's new attorney to show that Cummins had failed in his fundamental duties, Howard remained unconvinced. Cummins was strong on the stand and easily countered the vague and tentative testimony from Bollenback and his mother, Cheryl Bollenback Bailey.

For Howard, the case came down to credibility, and he chose to believe Cummins.

It made for compelling courtroom drama, and it was largely beside the point of why this case has angered people here for two years. Public opinion in this case turns on whether people agree with the sentence Howard imposed and the manner in which he did it.

Simply put, did a 17-year-old boy with mental illness deserve 10 years in an adult prison, with Howard's vow to "break your spirit" ringing in his ears, for stealing a six-pack of beer from a neighbor's garage and then walking away from a police car?

The judge has felt plenty of heat over this sentence, and his sensitivity to being labeled insensitive was evident during Wednesday's hearing. He could not have been more courteous, offering Bailey water and tissues while she was on the witness stand and saying at the outset that the session would run "as long as it takes."

His biggest bouquet to the family, however, came at the outset and attracted scant notice. Bollenback's attorney cited a newly minted U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found a Washington state judge erred when a sentence he issued exceeded what had been recommended. In Bollenback's case, state corrections officials suggested two years of house arrest, while Juvenile Justice recommended a short term in a high-level youth facility.

Howard's sentence went way beyond those recommendations, but it was upheld on appeal. The Supreme Court ruling may open a new appellate door for Bollenback, and on Wednesday, Howard all but invited Bollenback's lawyer to take that opportunity.

One of the most serious elements of this case, and the reason members of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill's Citrus County chapter packed the audience, is the belief that it shows how little regard the local legal system has for defendants with mental illnesses.

Bailey testified that her son is bipolar and for years has been taking medication for that condition, plus attention-deficit disorder and a lack of impulse control. Yes, she said, he committed the crimes, but when he is off his meds, as he was for weeks before he stole the beer, he loses control of himself.

NAMI and its supporters, including County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten, who was in the audience Wednesday, argue that there are better ways to deal with such offenders than putting them behind bars. Diversion programs elsewhere in the state, Wooten said, have been enormously successful, and they should be tried here as well.

Whether Citrus County joins the 21st century and looks into such alternatives remains to be seen, but it will be too late to help Adam Bollenback.

Leaving the courthouse, Bollenback's stepfather, Paul Bailey, talked of how his stepson is managing in prison. He is completing work on his GED. He is largely left alone by other inmates, with the scary exception of a prisoner who stabbed him in the neck with a pen in some sort of gang initiation. The other inmate had to attack someone, and Bollenback happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Some of the older inmates have taken Bollenback under their wings because they have kids and grandchildren around his age. Also, because of the escape charge, he gets extra supervision by guards. Most importantly, under the strict controls of the prison system, Bollenback is staying on his medication.

And each day, another piece of his grossly unfair sentence drops away, bringing him that much closer to going home to his family. Only eight more years of his life to go.

- Greg Hamilton can be reached at (352) 8860-7301 or at hamilton@sptimes.com

Mother in shock over teen's sentence

Authorities had recommended lighter sentences for the teenager, but a judge says 10 years.

By CARRIE JOHNSON, St. Petersburg Times

Published September 27, 2002

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Adults...and now KIDS are serving hard time for smaller and smaller offenses...

INVERNESS -- Earlier this year, 16-year-old Adam Bollenback swiped a six-pack of beer from a refrigerator in a woman's garage and got caught by Citrus County sheriff's deputies.

The situation went from bad to worse when Bollenback slithered out of a patrol car while the deputy wasn't watching, leaving behind only his shoes. He was caught and accused of burglary, petty theft and escape. Prosecutors charged him in the adult system, a move that was within their discretion.

After Bollenback was tried and convicted of the crimes, the state Department of Corrections recommended the boy, now 17, wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet for two years. The Department of Juvenile Justice thought a stay in a high-level youth facility would be more appropriate.

On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Ric A. Howard discarded those suggestions and sentenced Bollenback to a 10-year prison term. "You're well on your way to a lifetime of prison and I don't want to see that happen," Howard said before handing down the punishment. "This sentence is going to break your spirit right now."

Bollenback's mother, Cheryl, was stunned by the judge's decision. "What? What did he say?" she asked, glancing around the courtroom in confusion. "Ten years? Is that right?"

Bollenback's lawyer, Jim Cummins, immediately asked the judge for permission to keep the youth at the Citrus County jail for 10 days so he could file motions protesting the sentence. Howard denied the request. Then Cummins asked that his client, still technically a juvenile, be segregated from the adult inmate population. The motion also was rejected. "He's an adult and he's going to be treated as an adult," Howard said.

Bollenback smiled and flashed a peace symbol at his mother as he was led out of the courtroom in shackles. "Adam, I love you," Cheryl Bollenback called out. "Don't worry about a thing."

Adam Bollenback has a history of trouble with the law. Assistant State Attorney David Porter said the teen had been convicted of battery on a detention facility staff member, aggravated assault and battery on school staff. But Cheryl Bollenback told the judge before sentencing the convictions sounded worse than they actually were. She said the detention facility employee was dismissed after the fight with her son because he had a history of being physically violent. The aggravated assault charge came after her son threw a stick in her direction during a quarrel. Cheryl Bollenback said she never expected her son to be charged with a crime. "I thought I could call for help to calm him down," she said. Her son received the school-related charge when a staff member tried to break up a fight between him and another student. "It's not like he punched a school employee," she said.

Cheryl Bollenback also told the judge her son was taking several medications to help him with mental problems, including bipolar disorder. She said most of his offenses have happened when he refused to take his medicine. But Porter said the explanations illustrated an inability to accept blame. "It's always somebody else's fault other than their own," he said.

Porter also noted Adam Bollenback had a history of substance abuse, including alcohol, codeine and marijuana.

Cummins said he plans to file a flurry of motions to keep his client out of prison. But that task may become significantly more difficult in the next day: Once Adam Bollenback is put into adult prison, he is no longer eligible for a juvenile sentence, Cummins said. Although Bollenback was tried as an adult, he was sentenced during juvenile court. Cummins said he believes the judge was trying to make an example of his client. "There's no place for that when you're sentencing an individual," he said. "Especially in the sentencing of a juvenile."

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