Christopher K. Flantig, 39 — dubbed by one city officer as "America's dumbest criminal" — was sentenced to a half-year on a bail jumping charge.
That time will be added on to the 1-year, 15-day sentence he received March 17 on two of his original charges: plea bargained misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault and driving while ability impaired by alcohol.
He will be able to serve the six months concurrently with a six-month sentence he received in Buffalo City Court involving an animal cruelty case in which he was accused of shooting at birds with a BB gun.
His court dispositions complete, Flantig can now do what he vowed when he returned to Western New York in early March: serve out his sentences, then "get the hell out of town."
"The long national nightmare should be over," said his lawyer, Timothy D. Haseley, after today's sentencing.
Flantig left the area rather than face the original charges against him in Lockport and Buffalo, and took a job as a tattoo artist in Terre Haute, Ind.
His postings on social networking sites did him in, however. In some of them, he boasted that he had jumped bail, was on the lam and would never be brought back to serve time. His profile pages also included information on the tattoo parlor where he worked, which is where U.S. marshals arrested him Feb. 3.
He was returned to Western New York a few weeks later. During his first court appearance, he bragged to the media and thumbed his nose at police, predicting he'd on only get five months for his activities.
The bravado began to fade during that appearance March 2 after he told City Judge William Watson he assumed he wouldn't be released on his own recognizance.
Watson ordered Flantig held in jail on $1 million bail while the cases against him proceeded.
Flantig was much more subdued in more recent court appearances, as he appeared in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit and shuffled in and out of court.
Haseley said today he expects Flantig will serve approximately two-thirds of his sentences, and will be given credit for any time served. He said he's unsure how much time his client has left, but said Flantig would know "to the day."
"I can't see any reason for him to stay around here [afterward]," Haseley said. "If he does he's just setting himself up for problems. He's lost his job [in Indiana] at the tattoo shop, and he's a very good artist."
Haseley has questioned the interest in bringing back his client on charges that didn't rise to the felony level.
"This is the first time I've ever seen someone pursued for misdemeanors," he said.
Capt. Richard Podgers, chief of detectives, has said previously that they chose to pursue the case because of the violent nature of the assault, on Nov. 29, 2008, outside a West Avenue bar.
Christopher K. Flantig will be able to serve the six months concurrently with a six-month sentence he received in Buffalo involving an animal cruelty case.
