All the kicking and screaming in the world won’t keep Scott L. Staggs out of prison.

The Emporia man, who twice previously had refused to come to court for his sentencing, was ordered Tuesday to nearly 60 years in prison for his role in a March kidnapping in North Lawrence.

Staggs, 34, had to be brought to court by force. Six officers outfitted in full riot gear — helmets with face shields, elbow and knee pads, and Kevlar vests — dragged him into a courtroom at the Douglas County Jail that seldom is used for any legal proceedings other than video-conferenced first appearances.

“I don’t want to be in here,” Staggs shouted repeatedly before spitting at attorneys, kicking over a table and launching into a profanity-laced tirade that included a verbal attack on his own attorney.

“This punk sold me out,” Staggs said. “He’s on the D.A.’s (expletive deleted) side!”

As Douglas County District Judge Jack Murphy struggled to conduct the sentencing, officers kept a tight grip on Staggs, who had been stripped to the waist and handcuffed during the proceeding.

“I will not put up with any disruptive behavior,” Murphy said.

But after Staggs continued to yell obscenities and threaten attorneys, he was pulled from the courtroom much the same way he was brought to the hearing.

“You’re lucky I’m all cuffed up, you punk (expletive deleted),” Staggs shouted at the judge.

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Murphy then sentenced Staggs, without him being present, for his role in the kidnapping and robbery of a 21-year-old Mayetta man in March at the Jayhawk Motel.

“This is one of the more senseless and brutal cases this court has heard,” Murphy said.

Fourth conviction in case

Staggs is the fourth of five men convicted in connection with the kidnapping of Joshua Greemore from the North Lawrence motel. Greemore was beaten, stabbed and bound, dumped in Riverfront Park and left for dead.

A jury convicted Staggs last month of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

Murphy sent Staggs to prison for more than 51 years for the kidnapping, nearly five years for the robbery and an additional three years in prison for assaulting a corrections officer with a pencil while he was in jail awaiting his trial. In all, Staggs was sentenced to 713 months in prison, which includes 32 months for conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

Murphy also ordered Staggs to spend a year in jail for battery of a corrections officer.

Defense attorney Martin Miller criticized the discrepancy between Staggs’ sentence and those of his co-defendants: Leslie Howe, who pleaded to a lesser charge of aggravated battery, was sentenced to prison for two years, and Sara Bruce, who admitted to kicking Greemore during the attack, was sent to a boot camp for six months.

“The sentence for Mr. Staggs by comparison, I think, is unfair,” Miller said.

‘Career criminal’

Assistant Dist. Atty. Dave Zabel emphasized Staggs’ violent criminal history when asking the judge to order that the sentences be served back-to-back instead of concurrently.

“It’s very accurate to call him a career criminal,” Zabel said.

Since Staggs turned 18, he’s been convicted of 27 crimes — nine of them violent crimes against people, Zabel told the judge.

“This is an individual who does not deserve to get out of prison,” Zabel said.

Greemore’s family agreed.

“I feel like you should give Mr. Staggs the maximum for this horrific crime. My son was left for dead by these people,” Greemore’s mother wrote in a letter, which Zabel read during the hearing. “Please, judge, show Mr. Staggs no mercy, as he showed Joshua no mercy when he left him on the side of the road for dead.”

Five carloads of relatives and friends and the victim himself made the trip Monday from Mayetta to Lawrence, only to find that the sentencing was postponed because Staggs had refused to leave his jail cell.

But the victim’s mom did return Tuesday to see her son’s attacker brought to justice.

“Do you know how many people were hurt by this crime? My family will never fully recover from this,” Greemore’s mother wrote. “I still cry at times and think what if they would have succeeded in their plan and killed Josh. I would’ve died that day.”

In addition to Staggs, Howe and Bruce, Jeremy S. Harris, 25, Guthrie, Okla., pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping in the case and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 14. The fifth defendant in the case, James A. Keezer, 21, a transient, is scheduled to stand trial Dec. 9 for charges including aggravated kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder.