Robert Perry was the victim in court Tuesday, testifying about how someone broke into his home and stole money and electronic equipment. The next day, Wednesday, Perry was a defendant in the same courtroom, pleading no contest to aggravated stalking.

The two cases in Collier County Circuit Court were unrelated. And Perry’s testimony Tuesday against Sheddrick Bentley, who was acquitted of burglarizing Perry’s East Naples condo and grand theft of Perry’s PlayStation 2 and $200 cash, played no part in his getting almost all his charges dropped the next day, prosecutors said.

Perry, 22, was sentenced to time served, amounting to just over four months in Collier County jail since his Aug. 2 arrest. He was formally convicted of aggravated stalking, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Charges of burglary with battery, which carries an automatic life sentence, as well as battery and petty theft were dropped.

Perry was accused of forcing his way into the Golden Gate apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Madeline Beltran, and pushing and hitting her. According to the arrest report, he also hit a male friend of Beltran’s who had tried to help.

Perry hit Beltran again when she tried to call for help and then threatened to get a gun and shoot her and her friend, according to the report.

Bentley was a friend of Perry’s. Prosecutors were hoping to convict Bentley, with Perry’s help, and get him sentenced to 40 years in prison. Perry agreed to testify, but Assistant State Attorney Deborah Schwartz said Wednesday that had nothing to do with his own criminal case. She said it’s almost always inappropriate to barter a sentence like that.

“There may be very few circumstances where it’s appropriate to consider it, but in a case that’s a violent crime and where I have a victim, I’d really have to scrutinize it,” Schwartz said.

The plea agreement came about only because Beltran came to the State Attorney’s Office and filed a sworn statement asking that the charges be dropped.

“She feels he’s done enough time. She doesn’t want to testify. She wants to go on with her life,” Schwartz said.

The prosecution wouldn’t be able to prove the case without Beltran, Schwartz said.

Perry, 5297 Treetops Drive, doesn’t have a history of committing violent crime, Schwartz said. He does have prior arrests on marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license charges.

Mark Broderick, an associate for Perry’s attorney, James Zonas, said the plea terms happened only because the victim recanted, not as a deal to get Perry’s cooperation in Bentley’s case.

“It certainly looks that way because they had him over a barrel and needed him to testify. But with no victim, this was really in everyone’s best interests,” Broderick said.

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