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GREENSBORO — The son of N.C. State basketball coach Sidney Lowe asked a judge Tuesday to take a chance on him.

And the judge did, sentencing Sidney Lowe II to 15 months at the Guilford County Prison Farm, a minimum-security prison in Gibsonville. Lowe could have faced up to 23 years in prison on more than a dozen charges for his role in two armed robberies in March 2007.

At minimum, he should have received about three years in prison, according to the state’s structured sentencing system. But defense attorneys convinced Guilford County Superior Court Judge Henry Frye Jr. that extraordinary mitigating circumstances allowed him to impose a lesser sentence.

Lowe, 23, choked back tears at times in his nearly 20-minute speech to the judge. Lowe promised Frye he could be a better man now that he has kicked a marijuana and Ecstasy habit. He said he’d never been in trouble before the several weeks surrounding the two robberies.

“I have no idea how I ended up in such a place I couldn’t get out of,” Lowe said.

“I just hope that you can put your trust in me, that I won’t disappoint you,” he added. “I can be somebody great. I will be somebody great.”

Lowe apologized to his parents, who sat behind him occasionally wiping away tears as their eldest child pleaded for leniency. Turning to the audience several times, Lowe spoke to one of the victims in the home invasion that he took part in last year.

“I have to tell you I’m so sorry, so sorry,” Lowe said. “I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Defense attorneys argued that Lowe has taken steps on his own since being arrested that are beyond what might be expected and warranted a lesser sentence. For instance, he confessed to bringing the assault rifle to one of the robberies when officials had believed the co-defendant, Brian Martin, had brought the weapon. Martin is expected to be sentenced next week.

Lowe also helped investigators with details on what happened at the home invasion, which turned out to be drug-related — as was the second robbery at UNCG, in which a student was shot.

And Lowe underwent treatment for his drug dependency, which had led him to become involved in the robberies, a forensic psychiatrist testified Monday.

Frye said he took what defense attorneys presented and Lowe’s speech into account when he decided the young man’s fate. He also looked at several letters of support and reviewed the statute on extraordinary mitigation.

He warned Lowe that if he isn’t true to his word, he has about 11 years of a suspended sentence hanging over his head.

Frye also ordered Lowe to serve five years of probation with the first six months under intensive supervision. If he gets into trouble, the suspended sentence can be imposed.

And Lowe must complete 250 hours of community service, Frye ordered.

Coach Lowe enfolded his son in a bear hug after the judge’s ruling, while behind them several family members cried softly.

The Lowes declined to comment on the sentence through Locke Clifford, a high-profile defense attorney from Greensboro. He was joined by Raleigh attorney Joe Cheshire, one of the defense attorneys in the Duke lacrosse case.

Clifford said the Lowes are accepting of the sentence and they’re “happy the system worked.”

Prosecutor Stephen Cole declined to comment.

He’d argued earlier in the hearing that Lowe deserved prison time and that the extraordinary factors submitted by the defense were no different than what many defendants in the same situation offer.

“He made choices. Now he must deal with the consequences of these choices,” Cole argued, adding later that Lowe “must be stripped of his liberty.”

He said the only extraordinary circumstance in this case is that Lowe’s father is well-known and respected. Others in similar situations don’t qualify for extraordinary mitigation, so Lowe shouldn’t, either, he argued.

Frye said his ruling took into account Lowe’s character and his family’s support, but not the elder Lowe’s fame. He acknowledged he could face criticism for the ruling.

Earlier in the day, coach Lowe testified that he was proud of how his son had owned up to what he had done. He said his son’s drug use had changed him.

But that ended once he stopped using drugs, coach Lowe said: “I feel I have my son back.”

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com