AUBURN - A drug dealer who was sentenced in Cayuga County Court Tuesday to four years in prison, said he wanted to use the punishment as an opportunity to not repeat the same mistakes his father made.

“I would like to say I'm sorry,” Frederick Tanner III, 19, of 62 King St., apartment 2, Port Byron said. “This is not the life I want to live, I don't want to be a repeat of my father.”

Tanner, who pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to attempted robbery in the first-degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree and conspiracy in the fourth-degree, all felonies, is the son of Frederick Tanner II, who was killed during a drug deal gone bad in 2003.

Frederick and his brother, Brent Tanner, 21, were both in the car when their father was shot in the face by Tyquan Pringle, 19, who is currently in prison for second-degree manslaughter.

The younger Tanner admitted he was following in his father's foot steps when he robbed a confidential informant during a drug deal after he discovered the man was wearing a recording device that was being used by deputies on March 26.

Brent Tanner, who is a co-defendant in the case, was sentenced to three years in prison on Nov. 18 for his involvement in the drug deals, which go as far back as 2007.

Cayuga County Judge Mark Fandrich sympathized with Frederick Tanner's situation, and said he believed four years of post-release supervision in addition to prison would be appropriate.

“To say you had a rough life is an understatement,” Fandrich said. “I am familiar with the difficulties your father had and the life you have had. It's little surprise it led you on the path that has you here today.”

Also in court:

#&149; A local man was sentenced to six months in the Cayuga County Jail with five years of probation for fourth-degree felony conspiracy. Joshua Abrams, 20, of 2219 Saxton Road, Venice Center, admitted on Oct. 28, that he called several local pawnshops to see if they would purchase stolen merchandise.

Abrams said the scheme was an attempt to raise bail money for Eduardo Camacho, of Cato, who was in the county jail for identify theft-related charges.

Camacho was sentenced to prison for his role in the scheme after he pleaded guilty to false impersonation and identity theft.

Camacho admitted on Aug. 21 that he posed as a member of the district attorney's office to steal residents' personal identification information, which he also planed to use to raise bail.

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