photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Raymond Paul Stilley, pictured in July 2020

A Eudora man convicted of felony charges for kidnapping his senior relatives in a robbery scheme was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Tuesday.

Raymond P. Stilley, 32, was sentenced for his conviction of two counts of aggravated robbery. Judge Sally Pokorny issued a 216 month sentence for the first count and a 59 month sentence for the second count. She also ordered for the two sentences to be served concurrently.

The sentence follows the suggested sentence Stilley agreed to when he was convicted in May through a plea deal, the Journal-World previously reported. Before the agreement, Stilley was also facing two counts of kidnapping, mistreatment of a dependent adult or an elder person and criminal threat.

Stilley told the court on Tuesday he was sorry for his actions and said if he was not using drugs at the time the incident would not have happened. He added that he understood that is not an excuse for his actions.

“I wouldn’t have done that in my right mind,” Stilley said. “I love them,” he said of the victims in the case.

According to testimony during a preliminary hearing in February, two of Stilley’s relatives who are in their 80s said he broke into their home late in the evening on July 12, 2020, woke them up and demanded money and bank cards from them before taking them as “hostages” and driving them around for several hours in their car.

Both relatives testified that they had complied with Stilley’s demands because he was “waving a gun” at them. Stilley then drove to various stops in Topeka and Lawrence, including to multiple ATMs and bank branches once they opened the following morning, they said.

One of the relatives said Stilley had at one point told them to get in the trunk of the car so that no one would see them. The relative said they also sat in the back seat while Stilley met with various people, but they didn’t recall being introduced to anyone.

The ordeal ended after the relatives helped Stilley buy a Dodge Charger at a dealership in Topeka. They then drove their sedan back to Lawrence and straight to the Lawrence Police Department. Neither needed medical attention, according to court documents.

Stilley was arrested on July 14, 2020, after a reported standoff with the Topeka police.

LPD Detective Kim Nicholson testified that Stilley said during an interview with law enforcement that he had been on a “handful of” narcotics. Nicholson said Stilley denied or said he didn’t remember some of the allegations his relatives had made, but he also said they never lie, so if they had said something happened, it was probably true.

Stilley was also indicted on federal charges for the incident, the Journal-World previously reported. When asking for the judge to follow the suggested sentencing, Stilley’s attorney Branden Smith said the federal charges could result in Stilley serving more time in prison for the incident. He said Stilley understood the possibility but he was still agreed to the plea deal in Douglas County.

“He hurt the ones he loves,” Smith said. “He is extremely remorseful for what happened.”