Boise man already convicted of lewd conduct blasts prosecutor before solicitation sentencing
Before a Boise man was given his sentence on a serious felony charge Wednesday, he claimed his innocence and decried both the prosecution and subsequent media coverage of his crimes.
Byron Ely, 62, was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison on one felony count of criminal solicitation of a crime after a jury found him guilty in April.
Ely was charged in three separate cases alleging that he sexually abused a girl and then tried to solicit the kidnappings or murders of the child and two family members. In March, a jury found Ely guilty on one count of lewd conduct with a child. He was sentenced to serve at least 15 years in an Idaho prison but could serve up to 30. Ely’s attorney, John Prior, said during the Wednesday hearing that Ely is appealing that conviction.
Another jury found Ely guilty on one of the criminal solicitation charges in April, setting up Wednesday’s sentencing. He faces another jury trial on a separate criminal solicitation charge starting Aug. 4 in a Boise courtroom.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Dinger asked the court to sentence Ely to 12 years in prison for the solicitation conviction, with 10 years before he’s eligible for parole. Dinger asked for the sentence to run consecutively to his previous conviction, extending his total prison time from 15 years to at least 25. He called the case “reprehensible enough and serious enough” to warrant the lengthy sentence.
Dinger added that the victims in the case would not be giving statements, but one of the family members was present in court.
Ely’s attorney, John Prior, asked the court for leniency and for concurrent sentences, saying that if the sentences were to run consecutively, Ely would be a very old man when he’d be eligible for parole. He requested an opportunity for Ely’s rehabilitation and release back into the community.
In the end, Judge Peter Barton sided with the prosecution.
When given the opportunity to speak by Barton, Ely said that he understood the severity of the charges but that they are not true.
“I am not guilty of this,” Ely told the court. “I think it’s a travesty that Mr. Dinger has used discretionary power against me.”
Ely accused Dinger of using “acting skills” to scare the jury, leading to his convictions. Before the charges, Ely said that he worked with veterans and in suicide prevention, and that he won awards for work in the field.
Ely also denounced media coverage of his crimes, adding that he wanted a cease-and-desist order against local news outlets.
Barton sentenced Ely to 10 years fixed and two indeterminate years, with the sentence to run consecutively with Ely’s lewd conduct sentence. He also did not grant any cease-and-desist order.
Ely was remanded back to the Ada County Jail after the hearing ended at around 11 a.m. His next court hearing will be for a pretrial conference on July 27, ahead of the Aug. 4 trial on the second felony count of criminal solicitation.
