Published on Tuesday, September 27, 2005
in the Citrus County Chronicle

Man who fled deadly crash gets 55 years

Comparing a Naples man's extensive criminal past to a "train wreck," a Citrus County judge sentenced Gregory Hampton Platt to the maximum 55 years in prison Monday for fleeing from a crash that killed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper last year.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard told Platt, 32, he wasn't going to give him any "charities" in the case that would reduce his sentence. The judge ordered that he serve consecutive sentences on the nine charges a jury convicted him on last August in connection to the April 27, 2004, chase that killed Sgt. George "Andy" Brown, 54, and ended in Platt's own crash after the chase entered the Citrus County.

Pointing to a criminal history that began when he was 19, Howard told Platt it was sad that the "train wreck" that began when he was in his late teens "will essentially end your life."

Brown was killed after he tried pursuing Platt, who had fled when the trooper attempted to pull him over near Lake City, in Columbia County. Brown was killed when the Camaro patrol car he was driving went off the road at estimated speeds of more than 100 mph and spun into a grove of trees.

Platt was arrested later in the afternoon after crashing his Dodge Neon into traffic in Crystal River.

Howard referred to the facts in the case before sentencing Platt, as well as his past, which Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman said included convictions on armed robbery and kidnapping.

"He has probably the most egregious criminal record, in terms of serious criminal charges, that I have ever seen," Buxman said.

Howard asked Platt about his troubled past. Platt talked of his father being murdered by a cousin, and his mother in prison for killing a friend's father. He had previously maintained a drug addiction was to blame for his crimes.

When asked if he had anything to say before being sentenced, Platt shook his head and said a quiet, "no."

He still faces a charge of second-degree murder in Columbia County for Brown's death, and faces life in prison. Two men who will likely be there are FHP Sgt. Daniel Roddenberry and Lt. Frank Troffo.

The two sat quietly in court listening to the sentence, showing support for Brown's family.

Roddenberry said it was a sad chapter when Brown died, and that Platt "has several chapters to go."

"Nothing we can do can bring back Sgt. Brown and take away the loss of such a fine officer," he said. "He was such a fine example of what a man should be. He was an excellent human being."