# Star HS basketball star recruit collapses in despair when he is sentenced to 3 years in prison **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350 "2012-08-23T04:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/1 "2012-08-23T04:05:38Z")
Video here - [Top recruit collapses in court after receiving three-year prison sentence](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/top-recruit-collapses-court-receiving-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html) He apparently thought the lock was in for probation. You might have some sympathy for a young man making a mistake until you see what he did to get put away. [Video here](http://fox8.com/2012/08/22/i-team-surveillance-video-captured-violent-attack-by-farmer//) > **[I-Team: Surveillance Captures Violent Attack by Farmer](https://fox8.com/news/i-team-surveillance-video-captured-violent-attack-by-farmer/)** > > CLEVELAND — Tony Farmer’s talent on the basketball court made the Garfield Heights High School senior one of the top college recruits in the country.But Farmer may have forfeited a scho… He’s a fucking animal. My sympathy for him is limited. ---
**Author:** ![Tad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tad)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/2 "2012-08-23T04:25:55Z")
It’s seriously unbelievable that there are people who think that “but he’s _really good at playing basketball_” is a real defense against the savage beating and threats toward that girl. His talent can rot with him. Sports are far, far, far, far away from being important when it comes to the actions of an individual who harasses, threatens, and beats a young girl. She was right, though. He does need help and sending him to prison isn’t necessarily going to provide him that. But that doesn’t mean, in any way, that this guy should have been kept out of prison or allowed to pursue a college basketball career. This guy sucks and got (more or less) what he asked for. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/3 "2012-08-23T04:29:51Z")
Three years in prison seems harsh to me, and it wasn’t close to the maximum he could have gotten. I watched the video, and even though it’s every bit as disturbing as you say, I can’t help but ask myself whether putting him in prison for 3 years and destroying his future will make the world a little better, or a little worse. I don’t think he was beyond help or rehabilitation, but now he certainly is. His chances of ever being a productive member of society just went down quite a lot with that sentence. What would his sentence have been in a different first world country? He beat up his girlfriend, pulled her along by the hair, kicked her, and physically prevented her from leaving. Afterward, he sent her threatening text messages after a court ordered him to not contact her. He pleaded guilty to all the charges. Would he be in jail for 3 years for that in Canada or Europe? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/4 "2012-08-23T04:32:42Z")
Criminal athletes are becoming all too common. We just had three Razorback football players busted for burglary. Ending their football careers. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-05-12/Three-Razorback-football-players-charged-with-burglary/54922576/1](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-05-12/Three-Razorback-football-players-charged-with-burglary/54922576/1) It’s sad that student athletes would even think about doing something like this. It wasn’t that long ago that people looked up to athletes. Not anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/5 "2012-08-23T04:45:25Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > What would his sentence have been in a different first world country? He beat up his girlfriend, pulled her along by the hair, kicked her, and physically prevented her from leaving. Afterward, he sent her threatening text messages after a court ordered him to not contact her. He pleaded guilty to all the charges. Would he be in jail for 3 years for that in Canada or Europe? A quick search for “bodily assault with the aggravant of threats” brings up “robbery with the aggravant of threats” instead (I searched in Spanish). The penalties for robbery are 1-3 years; for robbery with bodily assault and/or threats, 2.5-5; for B/E robbery with bodily assault and/or threats, 3.5-5 Searching for “wounds” brings up penalties of 2-5, which can be brought down by a year if the violence was consensual (that is, if BDSM gets so far out of hand that one person needs medical attention it’s still a crime - maybe not against that person, but against public health), up if the wounds were intended, up if there were threats. Searching for “domestic violence” brings up the law of “gender violence”. Penalties along the lines of 2-5 and 3-5. So unless the judge was one of those diplodocuses who would have tossed the whole case and berated her for being such a slut and depending on how exactly was the assault followed by threats typified, it looks like in Spain he’d get 2-5. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/6 "2012-08-23T05:07:57Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Criminal athletes are becoming all too common. We just had three Razorback football players busted for burglary. Ending their football careers. > [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-05-12/Three-Razorback-football-players-charged-with-burglary/54922576/1](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-05-12/Three-Razorback-football-players-charged-with-burglary/54922576/1) > > It’s sad that student athletes would even think about doing something like this. It wasn’t that long ago that people looked up to athletes. Not anymore. I said to my husband after I watched the videos that this kid must have gone to the Kobe Bryant school of basketball (but he’s not Kobe yet - he forgot that he has to become a star first before he can get away with crimes). ETA: The law-talkin’ Canadian Dopers will know better than I of course, but I don’t think his sentence would be out of line here, either. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/7 "2012-08-23T16:23:56Z")
Three years is the theoretical sentence, but what will he actually serve? Not knowing if he had an existing record, I’m not sure what to say. It was a pretty vicious assault, though, and he continued to threaten the victim after the fact. That he’s an athlete is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/8 "2012-08-23T16:41:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Three years is the theoretical sentence, but what will he actually serve? [Here’s an interesting paper](http://http://www.iowapublicdefender.com/outlines/FUN%20WITH%20NUMBERS.pdf) (.pdf) about prison sentences and actual time. Who knows if those numbers are right, but it _sounds_ legit. Using those numbers, he’ll serve 1 year and 49 days. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/9 "2012-08-23T16:57:32Z")
Sorry, that paper is specifically about Iowa. He’s in Ohio. In that case he’ll probably do the majority of the 3 years. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/10 "2012-08-23T17:51:34Z")
What a little bitch! I wonder if he wet himself, too? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/11 "2012-08-23T18:07:34Z")
Slightly off-topic, but I clicked on the video, which said something like “Surveillance Camera Captures Violent Attack On Girlfriend,” and what starts playing is a video of a walrus kissing a young woman. G-dd-mn weirdly targeted ads. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/12 "2012-08-23T18:12:43Z")
No sympathy at all. I worked at a minor University. I saw criminal thugs getting away with beatings, drugs, thefts and shit that would have any other student thrown out and put in jail. All because they were “athletes”. At a school where not a goddamned one of them was ever going to play professionally. Take away that whole line. If he was just some other kid who did this and not an athlete, would there be any question about him serving the time? No? Then there shouldn’t be one now. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/13 "2012-08-23T18:18:40Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Three years in prison seems harsh to me, and it wasn’t close to the maximum he could have gotten. I watched the video, and even though it’s every bit as disturbing as you say, I can’t help but ask myself whether putting him in prison for 3 years and destroying his future will make the world a little better, or a little worse. I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at. _Every single person_ in prison would be more productive somewhere else – are we going to simply let people commit violent crimes without penalty? I personally know someone who got substantially more time than that for a nonviolent offense. By that standard, this kid got off light. Whatever the outcome, I don’t think it’s “society” or “the justice system” that put this kid’s future in jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/14 "2012-08-23T18:23:36Z")
Sympathy level = 0 and falling. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/15 "2012-08-23T18:32:32Z")
He’ll be out by the age of 21. There will be plenty of time left for him to build a life. Basketball may not be part of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/16 "2012-08-23T18:39:19Z")
I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/17 "2012-08-23T18:41:09Z")
He’s an adult who committed an adult crime and is suffering adult consequences. Maybe next time he’ll think twice before beating and stalking another ex. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/18 "2012-08-23T18:57:24Z")
If his skills are that good he can probably play in Europe of Asia when he gets out. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/19 "2012-08-23T19:35:03Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > He’s an adult who committed an adult crime and is suffering adult consequences. Maybe next time he’ll think twice before beating and stalking another ex. True that Ms Rachelle!! Look.. his life is not over.. Brian Banks will probably make a nfl practice team roster and he was in jail for 4-5 years for a crime he didn’t commit. They’ve been babying this star athletes today to such an extreme that they think they can get away with anything. Here in GA UGA’s star running back is getting kicked out of school and probabation for carrying a gun with serial numbers scratched off. I tell you a year at a work farm might give that kid some direction and make him appreciate what he has a lot more. As for the fainting.. give me a break.. man up you sorry azz punk.. You were man enough to do it.. now be man enough to serve your time. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350/20 "2012-08-23T20:04:41Z")
The only bit of sympathy I have for him is that it’s likely he was told he would only get probation so this probably came out of the blue…like his fist to that poor girl. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-hs-basketball-star-recruit-collapses-in-despair-when-he-is-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/632350.md?page=2)