TACOMA, Wash. – A former Pierce County Superior Court judge convicted of felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute will not go to jail.
Judge Michael Hecht was sentenced Thursday to 240 hours community service over the next ten months. The News Tribune also reports that Hecht must attend "John School." He could have received up to 90 days in jail.
The sentence was handed down by King County Superior Court Judge James Cayce.
Addressing the court, Hecht, who resigned from the court after his conviction, told the judge "I'm a broken man," and "I live in pain."
"Please. I'm begging you to let me go home to my family with what little dignity I have left," said Hecht.
"Well, you are, I agree, living a horrible lie. But the lie is your own, Mr. Hecht," said Cayce."You knew what you had done when you ran for Judge. You knew that you would be under scrutiny as a judge and you deserve everything you've gotten."
Even though he questioned Hecht's credibility, Cayce says he had to treat Hecht as he would any other defendant with no criminal history.
The jury found the Hecht guilty of paying one man for sex multiple times and threatening to kill another who had talked about having sex with him.
Hecht says the verdict was a disappointing result of a political attack by supporters of the man he beat in the August 2008 election, Sergio Armijo.
"John School," the Tribune reports, is a program for patrons arrested for soliciting prostitutes.
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