Judge gives Coast Guard member choice between jail or joining the military
Seriously dude, time to step up.
Coast Guard, uh…person?… Karl Carmichael seeks guidance from his mom.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A New York judge this week gave a Coast Guard member convicted of drunk driving a difficult choice: go to jail or join the military.
Judge Ana Johnson handed down a 6-month sentence suspended for two years to Karl Carmichael for drunk driving, a Class A misdemeanor. If the 22-year-old were to enlist in the real military in the next month, however, Johnson would overturn any jail time.
Judges have long ordered people to “join the military or go to jail” for committing minor offenses, the logic being martial discipline and service will better set a person straight over the long term than prison.
“If you don’t enlist in 15 days, you can report to the Dutchess County Jail,” Johnson said. “You can’t just pretend you’re in the military anymore Mr. Puddle Pirate.”
Driving a lifted Ford Raptor bearing a “Support Search and Rescue, Get Lost” bumper sticker, Carmichael was returning to “base or whatever you call …
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