OT: Top recruit collapses in court after receiving three-year prison sentence

[Whitey23]

Instead of sifting through scholarship offers, selecting a school and launching his college basketball career as he originally planned, an Ohio high school standout will have to put his dreams on hold.
Tony Farmer, an 18-year-old senior at Garfield Heights High School, received a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday as a result of pleading guilty to kidnapping, felonious assault and other crimes.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...g-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Way to piss it all away.

 

[OttoMets]

I'm sure Memphis will give him a look when he's out.

 

[Flacusian]

The defense attorney can be heard saying,"come on, it's not as bad as you think". Farmer does get credit for at least knowing that 3 +2 =5. All kidding aside it's really sad to see a young adult throw his future away. It just goes to show that many of these highly touted high school kids rely on basketball as their ticket to a prosperous future while not realizing that they need to develop other aspects and functional life skills. Farmer will likely now just be another young black man incarcerated before his adult life even begins.

 

[syr02esq]

He plead guilty. What does he expect?

 

[SBU72]

He plead guilty. What does he expect?

And had a long list of poeple (relatives, coaches, teachers) all say that he is basically a good kid who made a mistake. The list included his former girlfriend who was the victim of the crime! She told the judge that she did not think the kids actions were really who the kid is. ALL (including the proscuting attorney) feel the judge went overboard on her sentancing. They all thought probation. There is hope that the sentance will be changed when it comes up for review in 90 days. Maybe the judge was trying scare the kid.

 

[armory]

And had a long list of poeple (relatives, coaches, teachers) all say that he is basically a good kid who made a mistake. The list included his former girlfriend who was the victim of the crime! She told the judge that she did not think the kids actions were really who the kid is. ALL (including the proscuting attorney) feel the judge went overboard on her sentancing. They all thought probation. There is hope that the sentance will be changed when it comes up for review in 90 days. Maybe the judge was trying scare the kid.

This was exactly my opinion. The justice system these days hands out so much prison time for so many ridiculous 'crimes' that it has become desensitized to what prison means to the people they are sentencing. "Oh 3 years, it's not a big deal" ... What????????? He'd be a 21 yr old felon coming out of prison... he's going to be suffering from this for a LOT longer than 3 years, and had he committed the crime 6 months earlier he wouldn't see a single minute of jail time. I'm expecting there'll be a reduction in the sentence eventually.

 

[rrlbees]

And had a long list of poeple (relatives, coaches, teachers) all say that he is basically a good kid who made a mistake. The list included his former girlfriend who was the victim of the crime! She told the judge that she did not think the kids actions were really who the kid is. ALL (including the proscuting attorney) feel the judge went overboard on her sentancing. They all thought probation. There is hope that the sentance will be changed when it comes up for review in 90 days. Maybe the judge was trying scare the kid.

Someone kicks someones head in, doesn't deserve probation. Don't care how many people came forth.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[cusetown1]

You do the crime you do the time.

 

[syr02esq]

And had a long list of poeple (relatives, coaches, teachers) all say that he is basically a good kid who made a mistake. The list included his former girlfriend who was the victim of the crime! She told the judge that she did not think the kids actions were really who the kid is. ALL (including the proscuting attorney) feel the judge went overboard on her sentancing. They all thought probation. There is hope that the sentance will be changed when it comes up for review in 90 days. Maybe the judge was trying scare the kid.

And all that matters zero. What the judge decides is most important.

 

[Ghost]

It's tough - I think most people could get a long list of people to come out and say they're a good person regardless of what they do. If he was still sending threatening text messages in June, and this happened in July 2011, it looks like even 11 months later he hadn't learned much of a lesson.

(I'm guessing that was the timeline)

Sentencing Tuesday by Judge Pamela Barker for robbing and assaulting his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend April 23 in the lobby of her Bedford Heights apartment building. He took her backpack containing an I-phone, bank card, laptop computer and car keys and forced her into the parking lot, then dragged her to her car. Her forced her inside and struck her while he drove around the lot. She jumped out and ran into the building, but he chased her and continued the assault. Residents called 9-1-1 and Farmer ran off. He turned himself in later that day and pleaded guilty July 24 to kidnapping, felonious assault, robbery and intimidation of a crime victim, for sending her threatening text messages in June.

 

[SaintTristan]

...The justice system these days hands out so much prison time for so many ridiculous 'crimes' that it has become desensitized to what prison means to the people they are sentencing...

This is awesome. I am going to use this quote the next time I get in a discussion with someone re: the deterioration of our society.

lol. Ridiculous crime? He punched the girl a few times. keep in mind how big this guy is. So he punched her several times. then he kicked her several times while she was rolled up in the fetal position. then he drags her out of the apartment by her hair into the parking lot. where he beats on her a bit more. He steals her credit card and car. And then he sends her threatening text messages AFTER a protection order was in place saying he was going to do it again (i.e. not being caught up in the moment, several days later). "ridiculous crimes"?

ya, this kid doesnt belong in jail! he should be on a college campus where he can be coddled by professors and the wonderful rehabilitative environment that colleges offer 6 foot 7 men who beat up their ex-girlfriends.

remind me not to have my daughters date your sons.

 

[SBU72]

All I was saying was that it appears that the only person who feels that the sentace was correct is the judge. Is there possibly something wrong here? The legal system is what it is. Usually first time offenders get time served plus probation or something like that and that is what it sounded like the ADA thougth would happen. Why come down so hard on this kid versus others? Was there something in his past that warrented more than first time offender status. Also remember being a convicted felon carries all sorts of ramifications beyond jail, so it is not like the kid gets off scot free.

 

[SaintTristan]

All I was saying was that it appears that the only person who feels that the sentace was correct is the judge. Is there possibly something wrong here? The legal system is what it is. Usually first time offenders get time served plus probation or something like that and that is what it sounded like the ADA thougth would happen. Why come down so hard on this kid versus others? Was there something in his past that warrented more than first time offender status. Also remember being a convicted felon carries all sorts of ramifications beyond jail, so it is not like the kid gets off scot free.

oh boy.

First time offenders who commit assault and kidnap and then violatd a protective order while threatening to assault the girl again get probation?

where is that exactly?

 

[IthacaBarrel]

This is awesome. I am going to use this quote the next time I get in a discussion with someone re: the deterioration of our society.

lol. Ridiculous crime? He punched the girl a few times. keep in mind how big this guy is. So he punched her several times. then he kicked her several times while she was rolled up in the fetal position. then he drags her out of the apartment by her hair into the parking lot. where he beats on her a bit more. He steals her credit card and car. And then he sends her threatening text messages AFTER a protection order was in place saying he was going to do it again (i.e. not being caught up in the moment, several days later). "ridiculous crimes"?

ya, this kid doesnt belong in jail! he should be on a college campus where he can be coddled by professors and the wonderful rehabilitative environment that colleges offer 6 foot 7 men who beat up their ex-girlfriends.

remind me not to have my daughters date your sons.

Exactly, What is wrong with people. Violent crimes are violent crimes

 

[orangefog]

oh boy.

First time offenders who commit assault and kidnap and then violatd a protective order while threatening to assault the girl again get probation?

where is that exactly?

I have two young daughters and the thought of them being brutally beaten while laying there helpless doesn't exactly allow me much sympathy toward this young man. I agree with Stan, enough with giving a slap on the wrist.

 

[BonaCuse]

Chances this is a story on Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel in 4 years?

I felt really sorry for the kid when I saw him on the floor. Then I thought about if the victim was my sister, my daughter one day, etc, and that emotion quickly left my body.

 

[dollarbill44]

This was exactly my opinion. The justice system these days hands out so much prison time for so many ridiculous 'crimes' that it has become desensitized to what prison means to the people they are sentencing. "Oh 3 years, it's not a big deal" ... What????????? He'd be a 21 yr old felon coming out of prison... he's going to be suffering from this for a LOT longer than 3 years, and had he committed the crime 6 months earlier he wouldn't see a single minute of jail time. I'm expecting there'll be a reduction in the sentence eventually.

This is just preposterous. Did you actually read the account of what happened? A "good kid" who made a "mistake" does not make threats against the girl 2 months later while under a protective order. A "good kid" realizes right away that he made a mistake (and a prolonged beating is NOT a mistake - one or 2 punches in the heat of the moment maybe...) and tries to atone for that mistake through an apology and a change in his actions.

Maybe I'm just too old-fashioned with my belief of what makes a "good kid". Hell, even the "bad" kids at my HS didn't commit felonies.

 

[Moontan]

There's video evidence available from security cameras. The snippets that I saw showed him smacking her in the face, kicking her when she was huddled in a corner trying to stay away from her, pulling/dragging her and other less than pleasant things. The "kid" is a ticking time bomb that could go off again at any time. Hopefully, some time behind bars will get him to disarm some of that behavior.

Wasted opportunity? Probably. He's got nobody to blame but himself.

I would think that a plea would be packaged with a plea deal. Leaving it all uo to the judge (who may have overruled any way) seems like a dangerous way to go into court.

 

[AlaskaSU]

All I was saying was that it appears that the only person who feels that the sentace was correct is the judge. Is there possibly something wrong here? The legal system is what it is. Usually first time offenders get time served plus probation or something like that and that is what it sounded like the ADA thougth would happen. Why come down so hard on this kid versus others? Was there something in his past that warrented more than first time offender status. Also remember being a convicted felon carries all sorts of ramifications beyond jail, so it is not like the kid gets off scot free.

anyone care to bet - 1,000/1 SBU72 is a lib.

 

[Cowtown]

A basketball analogy, if you will:

One of the fundamental concepts in organized basketball is that if you force the ref to make a decision, you're stuck with the decision he makes. In other words, if you don't want the ref to call "reach in" fouls, don't reach in. If the kid knew that, he apparently didn't transfer that into his real life. Sad but true.

From the other side of the whistle, the ref learns to overlook the spontaneous beef, and forgets it as long as the player/coach doesn't rag on it. If they do, you deal with it. This kid, however, didn't "let it go" with his girlfriend - he "ragged on it" far too long and got "dealt with." Another lesson that should have already been learned, and also apparently wasn't.

Finally, another fundamental concept of the law is precedent, and if the sentence is out of line with previous similar offenses, it'll likely get cut back following the inevitable appeal. As well, the judge apparently has a few months to reconsider the decision - while the kid sits his ass in jail thinking about all the things he's just messed up. Does he deserve a serious wake-up call? Absolutely. Would he benefit from a few months in jail and a hard-assed PO? I sure hope so. Do I hope this doesn't end his opportunity for a decent life, and he gets a second chance after being "scared straight?" Yes.

 

[SaintTristan]

Here is a really easy basketball analogy. The jerk committed a technical foul and now he is out of the game.

 

[SBU72]

anyone care to bet - 1,000/1 SBU72 is a lib.

you lose, pay up.

 

[AlaskaSU]

who did you vote for for president: Obama or Nader?

 

[syr02esq]

anyone care to bet - 1,000/1 SBU72 is a lib.

I am a liberal and think this punk should be hung by his toes. Please don't assume people like SBU72 are liberals because that is an insult to me.