Published on July 29, 2020
A 20-year-old man was sentenced to almost three decades in prison for his role in a home invasion robbery and shooting, at a Greeley home in 2018. A Weld County district court judge sentenced Brandon Steele Friday to 27 years in the Colorado Department Of Corrections. On October 21, 2018, dispatch received a call at about 4:00 a.m. from a Greeley resident saying a man was outside near their home screaming for help, before getting in a vehicle and driving away. When officers pulled the vehicle over, a female, who was covered in blood, was driving the car. Her adult son was in the passenger seat and was also covered in blood. Her four year old grandchild was in the back seat of the vehicle. The adult male passenger had been shot in his left shoulder. The female driver told officers that she was sleeping at her Greeley home, where her son and grandchild also lived, when she woke up to her dog growling. That’s when she saw two men in her bedroom. She told detectives that one of the men held a gun in her face, and that she was punched and hit several times. She said she was also put in a headlock and dragged downstairs to the basement. While she was being held downstairs, she said she heard scuffling upstairs and then heard a gunshot. The defendants got away with three cellphones, a handgun, additional electronics, and other household items totaling more than $2k. In July of last year, Steele pleaded guilty and was convicted of 2nd Degree Kidnapping and First Degree Burglary related to the incident. Both parties stipulated to a sentencing range, that was open to the Court, of 20-35 years in DOC. The judge imposed a 17 year prison sentence for the kidnapping charge and a 10 year sentence for the burglary charge, which was ordered to run consecutive to the 17 year sentence. Steele is the fourth person to be sentenced for this crime. One co-defendant’s case is pending. Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wrenn prosecuted this case.