Two more people were sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Jefferson City for their roles in the death of a developmentally disabled Fulton man and trying to cover up his death.
District Judge Brian Wimes on Wednesday morning sentenced Anthony Flores to 15.6 years in federal prison, the punishment which had been recommended by federal authorities. He agreed to plead guilty in November to a charge of deprivation of Carl DeBrodie's civil rights.
Anthony Flores' wife, Sherry Paulo, was sentenced Tuesday to 17.5 years in federal prison for pleading guilty to one count of deprivation of DeBrodie's civil rights and one count of health care fraud arising from her efforts to hide Debrodie's death.
DeBrodie, 31, was a resident of Second Chance Homes of Fulton, a care facility on Claymine Drive. He was reported missing April 17, 2017, and his remains were found six days later encased in concrete in a Fulton storage unit, though an investigation determined he had actually died in 2016.
Paulo and Flores admitted in their pleas they had observed DeBrodie's health decline beginning in 2014. DeBrodie became underweight and pale, and he grew more ill over a period of several months. During this time, Paulo occasionally took DeBrodie out of his designated residence and put him in the basement of the personal home she shared with Flores.
Sometime around September 2016, DeBrodie suffered an acute medical emergency while in the basement of Anthony Flores' and Paulo's home. Despite observing DeBrodie's physical distress and obvious medical need at that time, the couple admitted, they did not seek medical care for DeBrodie, and he died while in their home.
In their plea agreements, Paulo admitted she subsequently placed DeBrodie's body in a trash can and transported the body to DeBrodie's assigned residence, where she and Flores put it in a wooden crate, which they filled with cement.
Prior to his sentence, Anthony Flores told the court and the DeBrodie family, "I understand what I did was wrong. I regret everything I've done. I want to do my punishment and try and re-do my life so I can help others."
Judge Wimes told Anthony Flores that, "You got mercy thanks to the plea agreement. You failed to act and should have acted. It's unfathomable what you did."
On Wednesday afternoon, Wimes placed Flores' son, Anthony R.K. Flores, on three years probation, supervised by federal officials. The younger Flores had agreed to plead guilty in February to a charge of falsification of records in a federal investigation.
In his plea agreement, Anthony R.K. Flores admitted to helping his parents transport the crate DeBrodie was in to the storage unit. He also told Fulton police he had seen DeBrodie at a barbecue at his house that April 16, when he hadn't actually seen him in at least six months.
During Flores' sentencing hearing, Wimes said he ordered probation in his case because, "The documentation shows that you were unaware of what your parents had done. Nonetheless, you did lie." Wimes also took into account Flores had served nine months in the Callaway County Jail on a county charge related to this case and that he had no prior criminal record.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Anthony R.K. Flores could have been sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison. Prosecutors had recommended he serve a sentence of 12-18 months. Judge Wimes did remind Flores he faced the possibility of serving prison time if was found to violate any conditions of his parole.
Flores told Wimes prior to his sentencing the reason he lied was he was following orders from his mother, Sherry, and had he known what his parents had done to DeBrodie he would never have done that.
"I've lost my job, my home, everything, because of this," Flores said. "I lied. I'm not hiding it."
Several of Debrodie's relatives gave impact statements prior to the sentencings.
Mary Martin, DeBrodie's former guardian, said, "They had no regard for his (DeBrodie's) happiness. People treat their dogs better than how you treated Carl."
Carol Samson, DeBrodie's aunt, said, "Carl was a kid you just wanted to hug. How could anyone lose track of an individual who can't take care of themselves and let them die?"
Nicolas Clark, DeBrodie's brother, said, "When she learned of Carl's death, my mother fell to her knees and broke down. It was so hard for me to see her go through what she did."
A fourth member of the Flores-Paulo family charged in this case, Sherry Paulo's daughter, Mary K. Paulo, has not yet had a sentencing scheduled. In April, she pleaded to obstruction of justice for her role in the crime.