Brian Earl Taylor, 21

A convicted felon seemed to feel particularly soulful at his sentencing last week for unlawful imprisonment and carrying a concealed weapon.

Brian Earl Taylor, 21, surprised a courtroom of onlookers when he sang a song for Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene O'Brien after addressing the court at his March 10 hearing.

The melody, which took Taylor less than a minute to recite, seemed to be derived from the hit song "Hello" by Adele.

"Hello there, your honor," Taylor sang. "I want to say I'm sorry for the things I've done and I'll try and be stronger in this life I chose, but I want you to know -- that door, I closed.

"And your honor I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry."

He then issued a similar number of apologies to the victim in his case, as well as his mother.

O'Brien said Taylor was "obviously a talented young man" and she hopes he will take advantage of prison programs so he can reach his goals upon release.

Taylor was arrested after police found him struggling with another man and holding a gun to his abdomen on Nov. 9, 2015 in a second-floor stairway of the Peninsular Place apartments, Ypsilanti police Lt. Deric Gress confirmed. The apartments are in the 900 block of Railroad Street in Ypsilanti.

Police said they suspected three men forced a 23-year-old Ypsilanti man into a vehicle at gunpoint and drove to the end of Railroad Street to rob him. The group then drove back to the apartment to complete the robbery.

At the time of his arrest, police said the Belleville man had multiple felony warrants and was on parole in Wayne County.

Taylor was originally placed on probation for two counts of larceny from a person in 2013, but was sentenced to prison after a probation violation in 2015, Michigan Department of Corrections online records indicate. He was released on parole the same year.

Before delivering his song, Taylor said hopes someday to attend Eastern Michigan University and get a degree in business management, become involved in his church and stay away from marijuana after his release. He also wants to be a role model for his younger brother and take care of his mother.

Taylor asked that O'Brien sentence him to only 36 months so he can finish his degree by the age of 26, but O'Brien said the minimum guideline range for his crimes was 50 to 100 months.

Through a sentence agreement, Taylor was sentenced two years in prison for illegally carrying a concealed weapon and 18 months to 15 years for unlawful imprisonment. Five other charges against him in the case were dismissed.

Taylor will serve time for his parole violation before the weapons charge. He will then serve time for unlawful imprisonment.

He is scheduled for a final pretrial on March 24 in a separate case in Washtenaw County for stealing or retaining a financial transaction device without consent.

Darcie Moran covers cops and courts for MLive and The Ann Arbor News. Email her at dmoran@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter @darciegmoran.