Can you sing your way out of a prison sentence? Probably not, but that didn’t stop Brian Earl Taylor from trying.
Taylor, 21, had a sentencing last week for unlawful imprisonment and carrying a concealed weapon. He was arrested in November after police found him struggling with another man and holding a gun to his abdomen in Ypsilanti, Michigan. At the time of his arrest, police said Taylor had multiple felony warrants and was on parole.
Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene O’Brien told CNN that in criminal cases, defendants have a right to say something before their sentencing. To plead his case, Taylor broke out into an apologetic song with original lyrics that seemed to be inspired by Adele’s “Hello” in an Ann Arbor, Michigan, court.
“Hello there, your honor,” he sang to O’Brien. “I want to say I’m sorry for the things I’ve done. And I’ll try and be stronger in this life I chose, but I want you to know — that door, I closed. And your honor I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.”
In his song, Taylor also apologized to the victim and his mother. After he finished, he asked for a shorter sentence of 36 months, but his crimes warranted a much longer sentence.
Taylor’s talent apparently didn’t help his case. He has been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison.
