A 21-year-old Emporia man was ordered to spend the next 17 years behind bars for succumbing to the peer pressure he said forced him to stab a man nearly to death.

James A. Keezer, listed in court records as a transient, was sentenced Friday afternoon to 214 months in prison for his part in the March 9, 2003, beating and stabbing of Josh Greemore, a 21-year-old Mayetta man, at the Jayhawk Motel in North Lawrence.

A passer-by found Greemore wrapped in a blanket and bound with twine the morning of March 10. He had been left for dead in Riverfront Park.

“I just want to say I’m sorry to the court, to the victim and to the family,” Keezer said.

Douglas County District Judge Jack Murphy denied a defense motion to depart from sentencing guidelines and reduce the minimum sentence Keezer would serve.

Keezer was credited for already having served 310 days in custody.

“You’ll have a lot of time to think about this, and I’m sure you will,” Murphy said to Keezer after handing down the sentence.

Keezer was the last of five people charged and convicted for their parts in the beating. He was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

Scott L. Staggs, 34, of Emporia, was sentenced in early November to 59 years in prison for his role in the attack. Keezer’s attorney, Jim George, said his client had been “acting under compulsion” from Staggs, who threatened to hurt Keezer if he did not go along with the plot to kidnap Greemore.

Others already sentenced for their roles in the attack:

• Jeremy S. Harris, 25, of Guthrie, Okla., received a 49-year sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated kidnapping.
• Sara M. Bruce, 19, Emporia, was ordered to be screened for eligibility in a drug-and-alcohol treatment program and will be back in court Feb. 13.
• Leslie T. Howe, 23, Emporia, is serving a two-year sentence.

According to court documents, Greemore and the five friends were drinking at the Jayhawk Motel, 1004 N. Third St., when Staggs persuaded the others to help beat and rob Greemore, who was in Lawrence visiting a friend.

Asked Friday if he thought justice had been served, Greemore removed a black baseball hat, revealing still-visible wounds from the incident. He cracked a meager smile.

“It’s just not right. I could have died,” Greemore said. “They all got off easy. It’s crazy. I just go on, trying to live my life.”