September 27, 2026
This past week, Jerry finally faced sentencing for the myriad legal charges that have languished for almost two years, pleading guilty to impaired driving and assault on a government official.
For the DWI, he received a 24-month suspended sentence and 12 months of supervised probation. He must serve 30 days within the first 90 days, but the court is allowing him to complete that time at a designated inpatient treatment facility if a bed is available. Otherwise, he must serve it in jail. For the assault, he received a separate 60-day suspended sentence and 12 months of supervised probation.
The records still don’t clearly establish the outcome of the child-abuse charge.
My reaction is mixed. Given the seriousness of driving drunk at more than twice the legal limit with his child in the car and assaulting an officer, I think he got off pretty damn lightly. The opportunity to spend those 30 days in treatment instead of jail is one he’s lucky to have. I wonder if he is truly aware of this or if his inability to acknowledge the ways his behavior affects others will leave him feeling sorry for himself.
While he literally received the minimum sentence required by law for the charges he faced, I don’t think this will be easy for him. He does not like being told what to do, and now he has a judge and a probation officer setting the terms.
There’s a part of me that hopes he uses this opportunity to get sober and make real changes. I would like that hope to be justified. But based on what I’ve experienced, I suspect he’s more likely to do the bare minimum to get through his sentence, then return to the same harmful behavior once the pressure is off.
I hope he proves me wrong. I really and truly do. For his sake as well as for the people who may cross paths with him. I wish that I believed he was capable of the kind of honesty required to actually take responsibility for his choices and the harm he has caused to so many.
It has been a very long time coming, but finally Jerry is facing some real consequences.
At the very least, that’s 30 days he won’t be free to prey on women the way he’s used to.