More than a month after a Lehigh Acres man arrested in an animal cruelty case Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno called “bone-chilling” and “heartbreaking” pleaded to the court, he learned his fate last week.
Anthony Bellman, 56, was sentenced Thursday to 10 days that began 5 p.m. Monday, according to the final disposition in the case. Jail records indicate he was booked into custody around 4:40 p.m. Monday. Four years of probation will follow him upon release.
During an open plea to the court , where Bellman pleaded straight to Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle to two counts of third-degree animal cruelty and one count of first-degree animal cruelty.
Bellman was adjudicated guilty on the misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty, and Kyle withheld his adjudication on the two felony charges of cruelty to animals.
“Each defendant has a right to plea straight to the court for sentencing and give up their right to a jury trial,” Samantha Syoen, spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office, wrote in an emailed statement, adding that the state did not make any plea offer.