AUBURN - A local man suffering from advanced emphysema said he received a death sentence in Cayuga County Court Tuesday.

Gary Bell, 53, of 1 Madison Ave, apartment 1, Auburn, was ordered to report to Cayuga County Jail Wednesday to begin serving a sentence for drug possession, but Bell said that his health has deteriorated to the point where the court should have sentenced him to home confinement.

Bell was originally sentenced to six months in jail with five years probation on July 29 after he pleaded guilty to possessing 19 ounces of marijuana, a felony, and 90 pills of Oxycontin, a misdemeanor.

But because a van used by the Cayuga County Sheriff's Department to transport inmates could not accommodate Bell's wheelchair, he was unable to immediately report to jail.

According to medical records, Bell's emphysema confines him to a wheelchair and requires him to breath from an oxygen tank.

Bell said he had been smoking marijuana because it helped him to relax, breathe and sleep, but had not used it since his arrest in November 2007.

“I am in the last stages of my emphysema,” Bell said. “I am at the end of it all. I have no more lungs, they are gone, shot. I could go anytime. It could be right now, tomorrow or in 10 years. But if I go to prison I feel I will die.”

Bell believed that because of his compromised immune system, he would most likely be exposed to the flu or pneumonia, which could potentially kill him. Bell had already been to the hospital once in the past month for pneumonia and would be visiting the doctor for flu-like symptoms on Tuesday before reporting to the jail.

Cayuga County Judge Mark Fandrich denied a request for house arrest because Bell had committed the crimes while at home. Fandrich gave Bell until 5 p.m. Wednesday to report to jail so he could make his Tuesday doctor's appointment.

“I know what I did was wrong,” Bell said. “I just want to be entitled to prove myself. You don't need to lock me up. I'm not a threat to no one. I couldn't even hurt a flea, or even try to.”

Also in court:

* A man who pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after his friend was ejected from the vehicle was sentenced to one year in the county jail.

Charles Short, 24, of 280 Wheat St., Cayuga, was also required to pay a $270 fine for the felony crime, which left his friend in a month-long coma.

The accident occurred after Short attempted to overtake a truck while doing 80 mph in a no-passing zone on Route 90 in Montezuma.

* An Auburn man was classified as a level one sex offender after he was sentenced for possessing child pornography.

The status meant that Eric Brown, 21, of 33 N. Division St., Auburn, was deemed to have a low risk of re-offending.

Brown was sentenced to six months in jail with 10 years probation on July 29 after he admitted to disseminating videos of children as young as 8 years old engaging in sexual intercourse.

* A local man pleaded not guilty to felony assault with intent to cause injury and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon after he was arrested in connection to the stabbing of a man at the intersection of Seymour and Holley streets on May 16.

Vyonne J. Elliott Jr., 17, of 109 Washington St., will remain in the custody of the county jail in lieu of bail, which remained at $2,500 cash or $5,000 bond.

* Melissa Whyte, 39, 7 Arlington Ave., Auburn, who is accused of illegally filing for social welfare programs, pleaded not guilty to two counts of forgery, falsifying business records, offering a false instrument and grand larceny, all felonies.

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net