A man pleaded guilty Friday to unlawful imprisonment for holding a quadriplegic Navy veteran against his will for months.
Despite his guilty plea, Brian Eugene Blindheim, 33, of Everett continued to insist to Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Stephen Dwyer that he really wasn’t guilty.
Nonetheless, the judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail, the middle of the sentencing range. That was the recommendation agreed upon by prosecuting attorney Janice Ellis and Mickey Krom, Blindheim’s Everett defense lawyer.
Krom said with time off for good behavior, the sentence will allow Blindheim to be released immediately from jail, where he’s been held since his arrest in early March.
He was accused of disabling the wheelchair that James Greene, 50, needs to get around. He also was accused of starving Greene and not giving him water, according to court documents.
Blindheim, who had been Greene’s caregiver, was arrested after two of the victim’s friends called police saying the defendant wouldn’t let them see Greene.
Blindheim initially refused to let a deputy sheriff enter the south Everett hotel room occupied by Green, Ellis said. When the officer was let in, he saw a cluttered room separated into two areas by a blanket fixed to the ceiling and extending to the floor, she said.
Greene “was on one side of the blanket, in his wheelchair, without any other amenities near him,” Ellis said. He may have been able to see a television set.
Greene told the deputy that Blindheim had denied him food, would not let him use the phone and wouldn’t let friends see him, Ellis said.
He also said the defendant disabled the voice-activation and other wheelchair features to prevent him from moving independently.
Greene, who lost 18 pounds between early January and early March, was hospitalized for days after the police found him. Ellis said she saw Greene recently, and it’s “very satisfying to see how well he’s doing.”
The man is now living in an adult group home, she added.
In court, Krom told the judge that Blindheim decided to plead guilty “because he has served the time and he’s anxious to get out of jail.”
According to the plea, Blindheim admitted there was a substantial risk of a jury finding him guilty, but he steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
Greene’s court-appointed guardian, John Anderson, spoke for Greene before the judge passed sentence.
“He basically was reduced to just a prisoner,” Anderson said.
Although Blindheim continued to claim he was innocent, Dwyer said he doesn’t sentence innocent people.
“This is an offense that’s not just mean but breathtakingly brutal,” the judge said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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