People named on what police say is a "hit list" discovered in the home of heavily armed suspect Ryan Flanzer say they don’t understand why prosecutors agreed to a no-jail plea deal, according to their attorney.

Some people named on what police say is a "hit list" discovered in the home of a heavily armed suspect in a Sarasota incident are scared and are hiring personal security and say they don’t understand why prosecutors agreed to a no-jail plea deal, according to their attorney.

SARASOTA — Ryan Flanzer, the 27-year-old Sarasota man who shot up a condominium door lock and then spent hours in a standoff with SWAT officers — and who prosecutors say deserves no jail time — kept a "hit list," according to police, who discovered drugs, an arsenal of weapons and boxes of sweat shirts bearing pictures of the Columbine shooters in his home.

Four of the six people who were on the list, also found in Flanzer’s home, question why prosecutors agreed to the no-jail plea deal Flanzer received Dec. 19.

Through their attorney, some of those on the list said they are terrified and are hiring security details for protection. No one on the list or their attorney were willing to offer detailed interviews with the Herald-Tribune for this story.

After his arrest, Flanzer was allowed to spend the last 18 months in addiction treatment at a rehab center on the beach in Malibu, California, where he now resides.

Asked why they agreed to the no-jail plea, prosecutors said Flanzer was the model of "mitigation" during his rehab in Malibu and pointed to the good grades he received there from UCLA extension classes — four As and a B — and to psychological reports that said he was no threat.

Stephen Romine, the Clearwater-based attorney representing Flanzer, says the decision to give his client a second chance should be considered more often in mental health cases.

On Aug. 21, Romine — in the middle of Flanzer’s plea negotiations — made the maximum donation of $1,000 to 12th Circuit State Attorney Ed Brodksy’s reelection campaign. Romine says he was a classmate of Brodsky’s at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law.

Romine said that his donation had no influence on the plea deal. Romine was hired by Flanzer on July 19, and the plea deal was reached on Dec. 19.

"We did the work that had not been done on this case for however long people were on it," Romine said. "I read some comments that thought it was a different justice system for poor or rich. If someone is successful financially, they shouldn’t be treated worse. If they are in a position to use their resources to establish the kind of mitigation that shows that they are not a threat or shows they deserve a chance, they shouldn’t be faulted for it."

Brodsky declined to elaborate on the donation, saying that Romine had addressed it and their relationship. "He’s already spoke to you about the issue," Brodsky said Monday.

Flanzer had been charged with seven felonies in Sarasota for his May 5, 2018, attempt to shoot up a door lock at a condominium owned by mother and son Jodi and Seth Bloom. The Blooms were not home at the time of the shooting.

Three of the most serious charges related to the incident — first-degree attempted armed burglary, second-degree impersonating an officer and third-degree wearing a bulletproof vest during a crime — were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Sarasota County Circuit Judge Charles Williams withheld adjudication on the remaining charges of second-degree shooting into a dwelling, and three third-degree counts of possession of drugs.

Flanzer was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in county jail and 48 months of probation, but he will serve no jail time because Williams gave him credit for time served in the Malibu treatment center.

If he does not violate the terms of his probation, Flanzer will not be a felon. He also is subject to a risk protection order that bars him from owning firearms, which will last for five years.

Suspicious evidence

Detectives found 1.67 grams of cocaine, 202 grams of marijuana and a trafficking amount of Xanax (342 pills) in unlabeled baggies in Flanzer’s home in the 2200 block of Fiesta Drive.

Romine, Flanzer’s attorney, said the drugs and other evidence found in the home did not belong to his client, who was affluent and had many friends who came and went from the house. He said Flanzer did not always stay at the house.

Detectives searching Flanzer’s house and his 2018 Cadillac Escalade also found a .50-caliber Desert Eagle handgun, an AK-47 pistol, five handguns, a shotgun and ammunition.

Three of the handguns and a shotgun with ammunition were found in his SUV, which witnesses saw leave the scene of the shooting.

Also in the SUV, detectives found tactical gloves and a backpack containing a hatchet and duct tape.

In Flanzer’s home, detectives found four boxes of hoodies with a screenshot of the shooters from the Columbine massacre in 1999.

Of the hoodies, Romine said: "Because of the condition he was in, Ryan made the decision to be ‘artistic and edgy.’ He made the shirts that were pixelated with another graphic artist. All proceeds went to law enforcement."

Romine offered no proof that proceeds from the sale were given to any law enforcement agencies.

"It was how messed up he was," Romine said. "This is the state of somebody who was suffering. His clean and sober side wouldn't do something like this today."

No jail time

Prosecutors say that in the months after the incident, Flanzer had model behavior, and the series of psychological reports showed that he was no risk to either the people on his list or society in general.

"There were no violations of his pretrial release," Assistant State Attorney Art Jackman wrote in an email to the Herald-Tribune. "This is a man who had no prior criminal record, no one was injured, and he was able to successfully pursue recovery and treatment over approximately the past 18 months. He is also moving towards helping others who face similar issues while he is in California pursuing his education.

"Based upon the defendant’s exceptional turnaround over the last 18 months, Judge Williams, an experienced judge, in conjunction with three separate psychological reports and evaluations showing the defendant was a very low risk to reoffend, approved and accepted this plea disposition as fair and appropriate," Jackman wrote.

Prosecutors did not immediately comply with a request made by the Herald-Tribune under Florida’s open records law seeking copies of correspondence between the State Attorney’s Office and the people named on Flanzer’s list.

Two incidents

According to his arrest report, Flanzer went to 1350 Main condominiums, where the Blooms lived, and buzzed the intercom dressed in a black cap, body armor, camouflage clothing and a pistol.

He tricked the concierge into believing he was a process server and was allowed into the building.

He went to the Blooms’ apartment on the third floor and, shortly thereafter, the concierge heard three loud thuds that sounded like gunshots. The attendant saw Flanzer leave the condos through a hallway to the garage and exit the ramps to the ground level. He left in his black SUV.

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Responding officers found bullets and brass casings at the door to the Blooms’ apartment. The rounds did not penetrate the steel door because Flanzer had tried to shoot out the door lock. He couldn’t break it because the bullets bounced off the steel lock, according to reports.

The incident began about a nine-hour search for Flanzer, whom police identified because of a tip they received a day earlier from a New York City-based security firm. Officers found him hiding out in the Westin Sarasota hotel, where he surrendered after a two-hour standoff with SWAT teams and police officers.

While Flanzer was charged in connection with the shooting, he was not charged for an incident that occurred a day earlier. On May 4, 2018, Flanzer allegedly went to a home in the 2100 block of Temple Street dressed in body armor and wearing a badge and a holstered semi-automatic pistol.

He identified himself to bystanders as a police officer, a police report said.

"I’m looking for a wanted person. I work with law enforcement," Flanzer allegedly told bystanders.

The bystanders did not believe Flanzer — who gave them his full name — and they called 911. Flanzer left in his black SUV, but they got a partial plate number "Y14."

Flanzer’s Florida tag was "Y14XJN."

’Just not doing your job’

After his arrest, according to reports, Flanzer told detectives, "I didn’t do anything, I didn’t hurt a human being, I was never going to; I was going to apprehend a most wanted person that had personally stolen a million dollars from me because you guys were just not doing your job."

Flanzer had filed a lawsuit in Sarasota County against Jodi and Seth Bloom, said Romine, his attorney.

The attorney said Flanzer became increasingly distressed about bad business dealings and family matters. His grandparents, Gloria and Louis Flanzer, generous Sarasota philanthropists, disinherited their two children and four grandchildren, which included Flanzer.

Flanzer also had filed a lawsuit against Erik Kaplan as trustee of his grandparents’ estate, which is represented by Sarasota lawyer Kimberly Bald.

Kaplan and Bald are on Flanzer’s list, along with Jason Walter Lynn, Lee Foster, Dana Manoni and Longboat Key Police Chief Peter Cumming. The Blooms were not included.

Romine said the individuals listed were not going to be killed, though Flanzer went to Lynn’s home with a firearm saying he was going to apprehend him.

Lee Foster took over Electric Lady Studios, built by Jimi Hendrix and John Storyk in 1970. Flanzer had owned the studio, but business was going dry.

The Herald-Tribune could not find Manoni.

Cumming, the Longboat Key Police chief, accepted a donation of more than $200,000 from Flanzer that was spent on traffic monitoring cameras and computers. The donation was recognized with a plaque at police headquarters.

Flanzer contacted Cumming, asking him to make him a volunteer with the Longboat Key Police, but the chief declined. Flanzer described himself on social media as a "crime prevention consultant" with the Town of Longboat Key Police since October 2017. Cumming told the Herald-Tribune that Flanzer was not an employee.

"I have no comments concerning a plea agreement ... as I have not been a part of these negotiations, nor do I have knowledge of them," Cumming said in an email to the Herald-Tribune.

Romine said that Flanzer’s plea agreement was the result of long negotiations and a strong demonstration that his client was no future threat.

"The State Attorney’s Office didn’t do things I wanted in this case," the attorney said. "This resolution was not something that was going to happen without the overwhelming mitigation being presented. This took a lot of work to get the State Attorney’s Office to agree to it."