Weird and Unusual Criminal Sentences

Weird and Unusual Criminal Sentences

Men Sentenced to Dress in Drag
Coshocton, Ohio: Judge David Hostetler gave Jason Householder, 23, and John Stockum, 21, two options of punishment for throwing beer bottles at a woman in a car: 60 days in jail or an hour of walking through downtown Coshocton in dresses, wigs and makeup. They chose the dresses. The punishment was meant to teach the young men to respect women, but it may have just taught them how to walk in heels.
Judge Rules Sex Offender Is Too Short for Prison
Sidney, Nebraska: Convicted child molester Richard W. Thompson, 50, was given 10 years' probation in lieu of prison time when Judge Kristine Cecava declared that the 5-foot-1 man's stature, combined with the nature of his crime, would put him in danger in jail. Wait, you mean jail is dangerous?

Man Forbidden to Have a Girlfriend
Ontario, Canada: Arrested for attacking his ex-girlfriend, Steven Cranley, 24, was declared by doctors to have difficulty coping with rejection and was thus ordered by Judge Rhys Morgan to refrain from "a romantic relationship of an intimate nature with a female person" for three years. During that time, he received counseling, but half-way through his sentence, he again assaulted a female acquaintance (a different one) and was sentenced to two years in jail.

Judge Arrests Entire CourtroomNiagara Falls, New York: Later claiming to have been under stress in his personal life, Judge Robert Restaino went ballistic one day in 2005 when he heard a cell phone ring in his courtroom. When the offender didn't step forward to confess, Restaino pulled the equivalent of a grade school teacher making the class put their heads on their desks and arrested the entire courtroom. Fourty-six people were thrown in jail. Thirty-two of them posted bail and the rest were shackled and bused to another facility. Restaino ordered them released later that day, but the damage had been done; the judge was relieved of his position.
Judge Makes Slumlord Live in His Own Building
Cleveland, Ohio: In what sounds like something out of a Joe Pesci movie, landlord Nicholas Dionisopoulos, who owned over 40 run-down properties in Cleveland, was sentenced to six months' house arrest in one of the units, where he presumably experienced a series of wacky pratfalls before finally realizing the err of his ways -- unless Hollywood lied to us. He was also fined $100,000.
Man Sentenced to Church
Davenport, Iowa: Running out of patience with longtime criminal Pachino Hill, 29, Judge Christine Dalton sentenced the man to eight weeks of church, along with counseling and probation. Within 10 months, he was on trial again, this time for vehicular manslaughter in relation to a home invasion -- not to mention a his involvement in a separate stabbing.
Six-Year-Old Boy Sentenced to Traffic School
Los Lunas, New Mexico: When a woman was ticketed because her six-year-old son wasn't wearing a seatbelt, she expressed her frustration that the boy refused to stay buckled up and would repeatedly undo the restraint while she drove. She asked Judge John Sanchez for help, so he sentenced the grade schooler to traffic school -- specifically, a seatbelt safety class specially designed for the child.
Man Ordered to Wear "Sex Offender" T-shirt at Work
Newark, Delaware: Convicted of exposing himself to 10-year-old girl while on the job, 69-year-old Russell Teeter was sentenced to 60 days in jail, with the unusual stipulation that upon his release, he must wear a t-shirt reading "I am a registered sex offender" at work for 22 straight months. Teeter should consider himself lucky on a couple of counts: 1) he's self-employed, running a gardening business with his (delusional?) wife, and 2) the sentence seems pretty light, considering his 10 indecent exposure convictions since 1976.
Woman Has to Eat Bread and Water
Houston, Texas: Convicted of animal neglect that led to the euthanization of one of her horses, 28-year-old Melissa Dawn Sweeney was sentenced to 30 days in jail, the first three with nothing to eat but bread and water -- which was "more than her horses got," according to Judge Mike Peters. I guess a riding crop would've been out of the question.

Court Agrees to Give Rapist Lighter Sentence If Victim Agrees to Marry Him
New Delhi, India: Pushing forgiveness to the extreme, a New Delhi court asked a rape victim to consider marrying her attacker because she'd have few other options due to the stigma of being raped. If she said yes, the court would actually reduce the man's sentence -- presumably so they could spend more time together? Thankfully, she refused the offer, and the rapist was sentenced to life in prison, where he may very well catch his own case of stigma.
Drunk Driver Ordered to Carry Photo of Dead VictimButler, Pennsylvania: When Jennifer Langston, 27, was convicted of driving drunk and causing the accident that killed Glenn Clark and put his pregnant wife in a coma, she was sentenced to only 30 days in jail and ordered to carry a photo of Clark so that she could reflect on her actions. When the picture provided by the victim's mother turned out to be that of Clark in his coffin, Langston protested, apparently not appropriately relieved at her light sentence. However, Judge George Hancher insisted, and she was forced to carry the photo with her for five years.

Judge Tells Underage Drinker to Commit Suicide
Novi, Michigan: OK, so this is more of a suggestion than a sentence, but Judge Judith Holtz, fed up that 20-year-old Michael Robert Dickey was appearing before her for his third alcohol-related offense, chose unfortunte wording when she suggested via analogy that he's headed towards certain death. "Here is my suggestion to you, Mr. Dickey," she stated. "Climb up on the roof of your house and jump off. Either that, or get in a bathtub filled with hot water and slash your wrists. Then you will be dead. It will be cheaper, it will be faster and in the long run, it will be less painful to anybody who cares about you." Holtz was chastized but not punished.

Judge Mike Cicconetti: King of Wacky Sentences
Painesville, Ohio: Judge Mike Cicconetti has a long history of doling out "unusual punishment," feeling that humiliation is a strong deterrent. Generally, the creative sentences are optional and are accepted by the culprits in exchange for a significant reduction in their sentence.
Here's a sampling: