AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me. The following is a sensitive subject, so reader discretion is advised).
Bully who convinced autistic man to jump into freezing ocean for $20 is spared jail after victim asks judge to show leniency because tormentor's girlfriend 'was crying'
An autistic man who was coaxed by two men into jumping into a freezing ocean for $20 and cigarettes surprised a courtroom by asking the judge to spare one of them from jail - because the bully's girlfriend 'was crying'.
Nicholas Formica, 22, and Christopher Tilton, 21, had dared Parker Drake, 20, to eat a hamster for money, walk into the ocean for two packs of cigarettes or jump from the jetty for the cigarettes and $20.
Drake, of Howell, New Jersey, declined the first two options but agreed to jump into the jetty in a prank that was filmed and posted online last February.
Formica and Tilton were convicted of endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the prank that was filmed and posted online.
They were found guilty on Tuesday and sentenced to probation and community service.
However, municipal prosecutor Anthony Vecchio had initially asked for a 90-day jail term for Formica because of his prior criminal record.
Drake then stood up and said, 'Do you think [Nicholas] Formica should really go to jail?', according to Asbury Park Press.
'You're telling me not to send him to jail?' the judge asked Drake.
'I think there should be something else,' Drake replied.
The judge instead ordered Formica to perform 90 days of community service at a facility for disabled children, and suspended a 90-day jail term.
Formica, who was placed on probation for a year, had been out on early release from a three-year prison term for conspiring to commit theft when Drake was subjected to the bullying.
Formica also had a conditional discharge for a previous offense, he said.
Capotorto sentenced Tilton, who has no prior criminal record, to perform 60 days of community service at a facility for the disabled. Tilton, 21, of Howell, also was fined $506.
When asked later why he asked the judge to show leniency, Drake said, 'His girlfriend was crying, and she doesn’t need that'.’
Drake had testified last month that the water was so cold and his body became so numb that he thought he was going to die.
Defense attorneys argued that Drake made a choice that could have been avoided.
'A series of choices were presented ... and there was a fourth choice: Just don't do it,' Formica's attorney, Alton Kenney, said. 'Nobody compelled, nobody forced and nobody threatened Mr. Drake. He was given a series of choices.'
But the judge said there was a possibility that Drake didn't know he could have refused the options.
'It turned out that this prank was well more than that,' he said. 'Fortunately for them, this prank didn't turn out to be something deadly.'
SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-endangering-man-autism-ocean-jump-prank.html
Bully who convinced autistic man to jump into freezing ocean for $20 is spared jail after victim asks judge to show leniency because tormentor's girlfriend 'was crying'
An autistic man who was coaxed by two men into jumping into a freezing ocean for $20 and cigarettes surprised a courtroom by asking the judge to spare one of them from jail - because the bully's girlfriend 'was crying'.
Nicholas Formica, 22, and Christopher Tilton, 21, had dared Parker Drake, 20, to eat a hamster for money, walk into the ocean for two packs of cigarettes or jump from the jetty for the cigarettes and $20.
Drake, of Howell, New Jersey, declined the first two options but agreed to jump into the jetty in a prank that was filmed and posted online last February.
Formica and Tilton were convicted of endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the prank that was filmed and posted online.
They were found guilty on Tuesday and sentenced to probation and community service.
However, municipal prosecutor Anthony Vecchio had initially asked for a 90-day jail term for Formica because of his prior criminal record.
Drake then stood up and said, 'Do you think [Nicholas] Formica should really go to jail?', according to Asbury Park Press.
'You're telling me not to send him to jail?' the judge asked Drake.
'I think there should be something else,' Drake replied.
The judge instead ordered Formica to perform 90 days of community service at a facility for disabled children, and suspended a 90-day jail term.
Formica, who was placed on probation for a year, had been out on early release from a three-year prison term for conspiring to commit theft when Drake was subjected to the bullying.
Formica also had a conditional discharge for a previous offense, he said.
Capotorto sentenced Tilton, who has no prior criminal record, to perform 60 days of community service at a facility for the disabled. Tilton, 21, of Howell, also was fined $506.
When asked later why he asked the judge to show leniency, Drake said, 'His girlfriend was crying, and she doesn’t need that'.’
Drake had testified last month that the water was so cold and his body became so numb that he thought he was going to die.
Defense attorneys argued that Drake made a choice that could have been avoided.
'A series of choices were presented ... and there was a fourth choice: Just don't do it,' Formica's attorney, Alton Kenney, said. 'Nobody compelled, nobody forced and nobody threatened Mr. Drake. He was given a series of choices.'
But the judge said there was a possibility that Drake didn't know he could have refused the options.
'It turned out that this prank was well more than that,' he said. 'Fortunately for them, this prank didn't turn out to be something deadly.'
SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-endangering-man-autism-ocean-jump-prank.html
