Man's sentence shorter the second time around By Jessica La Plante News-Chronicle A 24-year-old Laotian man who successfully challenged an armed robbery conviction and got a second chance to plea bargain with prosecutors received a slightly shorter sentence the second time around. A Brown County judge ordered Sisakhone Douangmala to serve 18 years in prison at a sentencing hearing Tuesday, seven years less than he was originally sentenced. Last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court vacated Douangmala's 1998 conviction. The court reversed the armed robbery, burglary and false imprisonment conviction, citing Douangmala's language difficulties and judicial error as the reason he deserved a second chance to enter a plea. In the 2002 opinion, the justices ruled the lower court had a duty to advise Douangmala about the risks of deportation prior to accepting his guilty plea. Using the court's holding as an opportunity to strike a new deal with prosecutors, Douangmala plead guilty to the lesser charges of robbery and false imprisonment at an April 8 court hearing. According to a criminal complaint, Douangmala was among a group of young men who ransacked a friend's Green Bay house in March 1998 and threatened to kill the home's 13-year-old occupant during the crime spree. Prosecutors said the crime was gang-related. At the Tuesday sentencing hearing, defense attorney David Matyas asked the judge to sentence his client to 15 years under the new conviction, giving Douangmala credit for time already served under the old sentence. After his attorney was finished arguing, Douangmala made his own appeal to the judge, telling the court he was a changed man who was working to better himself by learning English and continuing his education. Although Brown County Circuit Court Judge Kendall Kelley said he was encouraged by some of the changes Douangmala has made but he didn't see evidence of a major reform. "As I look through the presentence report, I see a track record which shows time after time you were given an opportunity to correct your behavior, yet you continue to have problem after problem," Kelley said. "The (assertion) that there's been a dramatic change in your behavior is hard to accept." Kelley said he was moved by the outpouring of support displayed by Douangmala's family, who packed the courtroom Tuesday. He said it was unfortunate that Douangmala's criminal record showed a lack of similar concern for family and society. Kelley said Douangmala's behavior both during and after the 1998 offense showed he preferred gang involvement to family life and "the rules of our society." "Gangs terrorize the community," Kelley said. "You chose to be part of a gang, a part of that reign of terror. You have squandered an important part of your life - and you've squandered the support and love of your family."