GREAT NEWS!!

OMGosh, one of you must have a powerful lot of karma to spare — or great luck or supernatural powers of prayer! Whoever it was — thank you!

Court today was the best possible outcome — incredible enough to be called a miracle.

For those of you who don’t know, my sister and her husband (dairy farmers who use organic methods) were charged with trafficking in an adulterated substance in a federal court (I may not have the charge exactly right, but that’s basically it) because people in Oregon drove across state lines to get raw milk from them. It’s a long and complicated story, and I’ll try to tell you the short version tomorrow or Sunday, but that’s why we were in court today.

In June, they accepted a plea bargain because they just couldn’t afford to fight (if you can’t fight town hall, you sure as hell can’t fight Uncle Sam!). The plea bargain said if they would plead guilty to misdemeanor charges, the prosecutor would recommend a sentence at the low end of the sentencing guidelines — which the Pucketts understood verbally to mean no fine and no jail or prison time, just a year of probation. But the judge isn’t obligated to follow the recommendation, and in fact, the prosecutor presents all the evidence to justify the maximum sentence (a year in prison, and a $100,000 fine — each) even as he “recommends” the reduced sentence stated in the plea agreement. There were also some other costs and fees, like $600 a month in probation costs. (Tell me, could YOU absorb an extra $600/month cost?)

So we went into sentencing knowing the good outcome was for the judge to accept the plea agreement — and the family would have to find a way to pay the costs, despite the fact that they’ve already been fined by the state ($8,000), paid money to people who sued them ($10,000), paid attorney and courts costs, and spent a couple hundred grand in upgrades and other related costs. If the judge also gave them a fine, there was little chance they’d be able to pay it, and might lose the farm. And if she gave them prison time? It would put their seven young children out of their home.

All the attorneys (even the defense) argued for the plea agreement, saying it was the “appropriate” action, though the prosecutor added a speech about how he felt the defendants didn’t feel guilty enough, that he felt they considered themselves victims rather than criminals (OK, I’ve paraphrased, but “victim” really was his word).

Then the judge rendered the sentence. She started by saying she felt they couldn’t pay a fine, so she wasn’t going to levy one. She reiterated that all the attorneys had agreed to what was an “appropriate” action. (In writer terms, we call this type of summation, “As you know, Bob”).

Then she added, “But I don’t agree!” (exclamation point hers, I swear! She was emphatic.) She said she saw absolutely no benefit to probation, that it wouldn’t protect anyone and it would end up costing the government needless money. “It’s enough that these people had to plead guilty to a misdeamnor.” (This is quoted as directly as I can remember, hours later, but it’s definitely close.)

I wanted to give her a standing ovation, but I was afraid she might change her mind, so I settled for sobbing hysterically in the back of the room. (Oh, OK, I didn’t sob hysterically — I just dabbed elegantly at my eyes with a white, linen hankie.)

It was a total shock to everyone in the courtroom. One defense attorney was tearing up (not telling whether it was the man or woman), and when the prosecutor asked for a few minutes to figure out something, the judge said (paraphrased), “Of course. I know this was a complete surprise.”

Afterward, we all went to the Indochine Asian Dining Lounge for THE best Thai food I’ve ever had. It was truly a celebration dinner.

Edited to Add: The entire entry. Sorry about the tantalizing head with no post that was here most of the day. I tried to blog from the courthouse, on my iPhone. The WordPress App wouldn’t work because I changed my password after setting it up, and I can’t find a command to update it. I even tried to reinstall it, so I could set it up again, but that didn’t work (it might have worked if I’d uninstalled it first). Then I tried to post from the WordPress website, and I was able to post a title, as you may have seen, but the website didn’t work properly on the Phone, and I couldn’t write anything in the body.