Shanklin's plea deal formally calls for a maximum of 14 years, consistent with Maryland sentencing guidelines for adult offenders. There's no mandatory minimum.
But when Shanklin is sentenced next month, the judge will be using guidelines that suggest a minimum of four years in prison. Typically in Charles County, judges sentence somewhere in the middle of the guideline range - which, in Shanklin's case, would be somewhere around nine years.
So chances are, this 17-year-old robber of two pizza men - for a total take of about $50 and those Newport 100s - will be at least 26 years old when he's released.
Outside the courtroom, Pamala Shanklin nearly falls as she steps gingerly toward her son, now being hustled back to jail. The deputies take pity and step aside as the mother balances herself, one arm pressing down on her cane, the other wrapped around her Darrell, her face pressed against his heart.
"We love you, Darrell," she says, and there are tears from both the mother and the son.
"I love you, too," he says, and the deputies ease the teen-ager away to await sentencing, as an adult.
