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Sentenced to College - Chapter 6
Rising stakes and a pair of pants
New here? Start from the beginning…
On October 20, 1998 — six weeks after Angel accepted a guilty plea for “Receiving Stolen Property, Firearms” — he sat before Judge Spilseth once again for his sentencing hearing.
He had already spent 75 days in jail while awaiting his September 8 plea hearing and was given an additional credit for good time, bringing his total time served to 112 days. He and his defense lawyer, Carter Greiner, were hopeful there would be no more jail time, and also that the judge would agree to a stay of imposition of his sentence, meaning that as long as Angel abided by all the rules of his probation for the next 10 years, his conviction would be reduced to a misdemeanor so he wouldn’t have to carry a felony conviction on his record for the rest of his life.
In between the plea hearing and and the sentencing hearing, Angel’s probation officer, Nancy Naujokas (Nye-OH-kiss), had been conducting a pre-sentencing investigation (PSI) based on interviews with Angel and a variety of other people who could provide pertinent information about his background. These people might include the prosecutor, law enforcement agents, victims, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, school personnel, family members, associates, and past or current employers. Following the interviews, and taking into account any extenuating circumstances, she would compile a probation report for Judge Spilseth with recommendations and guidelines on how lenient or severe Angel’s sentence should be.
The hearing began at 10:30 AM, and after listening to the opinions of both the defense and the prosecuting attorney over how Angel should be sentenced, Judge Spilseth spoke directly to Angel.