Hermanns Sentenced To 13.5 Years

WALLA WALLA - Former Waitsburg resident Adam Hermanns, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to armed robbery and residential burglary, was sentenced to 13 ½ years in prison, the maximum term possible under state sentencing guidelines.

A fierce protector of the idea that one's home is one's castle, Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge Donald W. Schacht said he took seriously victim impact statements, particularly from 81-year-old Dorothy Schneider, whose residence was invaded by Hermanns and an alleged accomplice.

On Monday, Hermanns pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery while armed with a firearm during a College Place home invasion in April and to residential burglary on Mill Creek Road in January.

The firearms charge carries a mandatory five-year term which cannot be reduced with good behavior. After that, Hermanns will spend another eight and a half years in prison for the home invasion charge. But since that is a violent offense, he can shave that time by at most one-fifth, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joe Golden explained after the trial.

That means Hermanns will spend at least 11 ½ years behind bars for this year's offenses.

Public defender Julie Brown said the Hermanns family declined to comment on the outcome of the trial .

During the proceedings, Hermanns was described as apologetic to the point of sobbing over his misdeeds only to emerge after sentencing holding his hands in an obscene gesture to a photographer in the hallway and shouting "Take a picture of that!"

"My actions have been severe," Adams was quoted as saying in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin. "I would just like to take responsibility for them."

As part of the plea agreement, the prosecutor dropped charges that involved Hermanns' alleged entry of the home of Union Bulletin reporter Andy Porter in late March, just days before the armed home invasion to which the 23-year-old pleaded guilty.

"I'm happy with the way things worked out," Porter said after the trial. "Giving him the maximum sentence showed Hermanns the same compassion as he had for his victims, which is none."

Porter, who agreed to the dropped charges so the pleas agreement could go forward, said he still has a hard time believing what happened that night on March 29 or that the seemingly remorseful Hermanns was the same man who entered his home.

Still awake late, Porter said Hermanns stepped through Porter's kitchen door, which the reporter was in the habit of leaving open for his cats. Donning a black stocking mask and brandishing a knife, Hermanns walked up close to Porter, who shook of his paralysis, grabbed the intruder's wrist and pulled a concealed .38 revolver from his pocket before chasing the younger man out of his house.

"I still can't believe it happened," Porter said. "I was in shock."

Porter said as soon as he held the gun to Hermanns' side, his demeanor changed immediately. The journalist, who believes Hermanns was high on something, quoted him as saying: "I'm an alcoholic. I don't want to get shot over this."

During the invasion of Schneider's home on Fourth Street on April 3, Hermanns had an alleged accomplice, Antonio Contreras, who pleaded guilty in June to reduced charges of third-degree assault and second-degree theft, but has yet to be sentenced.

In court, Brown reportedly told Schacht that Hermanns feels his crimes were the result of his substance abuse problems, that he welcomes treatment opportunities and that he wants to finish his high school education while in prison.

Golden, who wasn't surprised by Schacht's high sentence given his reputation as a proponent of home privacy, also said Hermanns has the potential to turn himself around.

"It's too bad," the prosecutor said after the trial. "In court, he seems like a likeable guy, but he's messed up."