Michael Burham, shown here walking into his preliminary hearing, was sentenced in county court on Friday to decades in state prison on kidnapping charges as well as escaping from the Warren County Jail. File photo

“You’ll do anything to anybody to maintain your freedom.”

That was just a small piece of the message Judge Gregory Hammond had for Michael Burham, who was sentenced to over 25 to 50 years in prison on charges including kidnapping and escape.

Burham, a person of interest in a Chautauqua County homicide, staked out the residence of a Sheffield couple for a week before taking them hostage, fleeing law enforcement all the way to South Carolina. He was picked up there and brought back to the Warren County Jail.

He proceeded to escape from the jail, the start of a 10-day manhunt that brought the county national and international media attention.

Burham, who has been held at the Erie County Prison since the escape, was escorted into the courtroom Friday by two sheriff’s deputies, kept isolated from other inmates.

There were many people in the gallery for this sentencing, including all three Warren County Commissioners.

Burham’s attorney, Chief Public Defender Kord Kinney, was first to speak on Friday and pointed out that his client only has a DUI on his record, served 12 years in the Army reserves and has a solid work history.

He said Burham is “remorseful” and clearly understands the impact his actions had on the victim.

District Attorney Rob Greene said that there are few cases he’s seen in his career that are more deserving of a maximum sentence than this one.

He specifically cited the age of the victims and said that Burham was specifically looking for an elderly couple, who were “absolutely humiliated” during the drive to South Carolina.

Greene challenged any notion that Burham had taken accountability, questioning how he could take accountability while fleeing from the county jail.

Much of the discussion during sentencing addressed the effect that Burham’s conduct had on the victims.

“She can’t sleep,” Greene said. “She can’t stop thinking about it.”

He cited a medical report that said the male victim is on a “downward clinical course.”

Burham’s conduct in the Erie County Prison provided more talking points.

“I have never seen this many misconducts,” Greene said.

Hammond said later in the hearing that there were 25.

Greene also addressed the impact that the manhunt had on the community.

“I don’t know what word to use here,” he said, noting that people were scared and locking their doors. He described it as “nine days of terrorizing a community.”

“No one is more deserving of the maximum than Mr. Burham,” Greene said.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry, who prosecuted the escape charge, asked Hammond to consider the effect Burham’s escape had on the citizens of the community.

Burham “sentenced the citizens of Warren County to confinement,” Lowry said.

Burham was given the opportunity to speak and apologized to the victims and “everyone in Warren.”

He also apologized to the correctional officers in Erie County that “I’ve treated poorly….”

Hammond stressed that “one of the most important factors” in crafting a sentence is the impact a defendant’s actions have on the victims and the community.

He said a victim impact statement in the kidnapping case was “one of the most compelling victim statements I’ve read in 14 years on the bench,” describing the “absolute terror” of being held at gunpoint by a person of interest in a homicide.

Hammond told Burham that “peaceful, caring human beings aren’t cut out to handle” the level of trauma and torture he inflicted.

Hammond then summarized reports from health care providers regarding the impact these crimes had on the couple along with the “retraumatization of your escape.”

“Ultimately, they will never completely recover,” he said.

Speaking to the victims, Hammond said that the community is “overjoyed” that they are safe and “view(s) you with nothing but admiration, respect and compassion.”

Shifting to the escape, Hammond said he can’t think of a crime in Warren County that “has had a greater negative impact on the community” than this one.

“Everyone in the community changed the way they lived their lives,” Hammond said. “They know you were capable of victimizing a law abiding couple in their own home.”

He concluded that Burham is a “grave threat to the public” and that the “public needs protection from you. You’ll do anything to anybody to maintain your freedom.”

Hammond acknowledged that a defendant’s rehabilitative needs are part of sentencing.

“Your rehabilitative needs are through the roof,” he said.

Burham was then sentenced on six counts – kidnapping, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, theft by unlawful taking and burglary in addition to the escape.

He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years incarceration, $673.68 in restitution, $375 in fees, a no contact/no trespass order, credit for 193 days time served, submission of a DNA sample and to undergo a mental health evaluation and comply with recommendations on the kidnapping charge; seven to 14 months incarceration for recklessly endangering another person, one to two months incarceration for terroristic threats; 12 to 24 months incarceration and $5,367 in restitution for theft by unlawful taking and 10 to 20 years incarceration for burglary.

For the escape, he was sentenced to 42 to 84 months incarceration and $125 in fees.

The sentences for kidnapping, burglary and escape were the maximum allowed by law, according to Hammond.

The kidnapping, reckless endangerment and burglary charges also included a “deadly weapon used” sentence enhancement.