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May 21, 2008 11:12 am US/Central
Judge To Fantroy: Apologize Publicly Or Go To Jail
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Former Dallas City Council member James Fantroy must make a public apology for his crimes or go to prison for a month.
Dallas district judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced Fantroy Wednesday morning for theft and embezzling funds from Paul Quinn College in Dallas. A jury convicted him in February.
Fantroy suffers from kidney cancer and uses a wheelchair. The judge acknowledged that he took those factors into consideration in passing the sentence.
In court, he said to Fantroy, "But for your medical condition I'd send you to the penitentiary. That's what you deserve. You are unrepentant, you violated the public trust and a message needs to be sent."
Fantroy must choose either 30 days in prison or to make a public apology. Judge Kinkeade said, "I want you to say 'I was wrong; what I said was a lie.' I don't know if you've got the guts to do that, but the community needs to hear it... You know what you did was wrong. You stole money."
Fantroy had no visible reaction to the sentence while in court.
Fantroy has consistently denied wrongdoing in media interviews. In an interview with CBS 11 News on October 1, 2007, we asked him if he planned to accept the plea bargain prosecutors had offered him. They offered to spare him from prison if he pleaded guilty and testified on the government's behalf. Fantroy answered our question quickly: he said "No, I'm not pleading guilty to something I didn't do."
The judge was aware of Fantroy's public denials, and he told him not to make any more. "You've been on TV a lot--most of it live," Kinkeade said, stressing his displeasure at Fantroy's denials. "And if I see one shred of that (denial) you're going to do your time."
Kinkeade did not force Fantroy to make his decision in court. But if Fantroy chooses to make the apology, the judge said he wants it to happen within the next two to three days.
Regardless of Fantroy's choice of the apology or prison time, the judge also sentenced Fantroy to 180 days of home confinement followed by two years of probation. He must also make restitution of $17,938.
The only people who spoke on Fantroy's behalf were his wife and his pastor, Reverend H.J. Johnson. Neither tried to defend Fantroy's actions, but Johnson said, "I can't say he's never made a mistake. All of us have."
There's no word yet whether Fantroy will choose prison time or a public apology.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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