Kidnapping charge dropped, but EH man gets prison time
Mar. 23—A man who was accused of kidnapping a woman at gunpoint in Andover before leading police on a chase at speeds up to 130 mph accepted a plea bargain Friday in which he was convicted only of drug and gun crimes and received a 5 1/2 -year prison sentence.
Simmie J. Freeman, now 35, who listed an address on Webster Street in East Hartford when he was arrested immediately after the Sept. 11, 2019 chase, was convicted in the plea deal of criminal possession of a revolver and possessing cocaine with the intent to sell it.
He entered the Vernon Superior Court plea bargain under the Alford doctrine, meaning he didn't admit guilt but acknowledged that the prosecution's evidence was sufficient for a conviction at trial.
Defense lawyer Erin M. Field explained that Freeman maintained that the loaded revolver found in the car didn't belong to him, according to an audio recording of the hearing.
Tolland County State's Attorney Matthew C. Gedansky said state police were called to the Andover Plaza on Route 6 with reports that a woman might be held against her will there. On one of the calls, police heard a female scream, the prosecutor added.
When police arrived, Freeman fled, leading police on a chase that went onto Interstate 384, then Interstate 84, and ended in Hartford, where state troopers from several barracks and Hartford police succeeded in stopping the car, according to Gedansky.
DRUG, GUN SENTENCE
DEFENDANT: Simmie J. Freeman, now 35, who listed an address on Webster Street in East Hartford when he was arrested in September 2019
CONVICTIONS: Criminal possession of a revolver and possessing cocaine with the intent to sell it
SENTENCE: 5 1/2 years in prison
NOT PROSECUTED: Kidnapping, chase, assault accusations
The woman in the car claimed to have been kidnapped, the prosecutor said, and police found a loaded revolver in the car along with 7.5 grams of cocaine, which Gedansky described as a sale quantity — too much for personal use.
The prosecutor said the woman made conflicting statements, adding that she had "some credibility issues."
As a result, he said, he decided to proceed only with charges that didn't necessarily involve her.
There was confusion during plea bargaining over whether Freeman's new sentence would run consecutive or concurrent to his sentence in a 2011 New Britain case in which he was on special parole for first-degree burglary, sale of illegal drugs, and assault on public safety personnel.
Gedansky acknowledged that he was under the impression when he made the plea offer that the new sentence would run consecutive to the old one, resulting in a total sentence of nine to 10 years.
He said he subsequently learned that the sentences would have to run concurrent and that Freeman will get sentence credit from the day he was arraigned in the new case, Sept. 12, 2019.
The prosecutor said he didn't feel he could ethically withdraw the plea offer based on the new information.
"He got the benefit of basically my mistake, and I'll have to live with that," Gedansky said.
As well as dropping the charges stemming from the kidnapping accusations and the chase, Gedansky dropped charges that Freeman had committed a second-degree assault with a weapon on Aug. 1, 2019.
Based on Freeman's criminal record, if he had been convicted of the charges he was facing at a trial, he might have received a sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison, the prosecutor said.
Gedansky expressed hope that Freeman will decide "he doesn't want to live this way," but added that he isn't "overly optimistic" about that.
Field said that when Freeman gets out of prison he intends to move out of Connecticut to be closer to his mother.
For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.
