en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Thomas_Knight
2 corrections found
Knight paid $2,000 in restitution to victims
The exact restitution amount to Knight’s victims was $1,894.75, not $2,000. Contemporary coverage sometimes rounded this to “nearly $2,000,” but the court record gives the precise figure.
Full reasoning
The article gives an exact restitution figure of $2,000, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s opinion in State v. Knight states the agreed restitution to victims was $1,894.75. In the court’s words, Knight was “ordered to pay an agreed amount of $1,894.75 in restitution to a few of his victims,” and the court also noted that he had already paid almost all of that amount.
Some later news reports summarized this as “nearly $2,000”, which explains how the round number may have entered secondary accounts. But presenting $2,000 as the exact amount is inaccurate when the court record gives a specific lower figure.
2 sources
- State v. Knight (2016 ME 123)
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court summarized Knight’s sentence and stated that he was “ordered to pay an agreed amount of $1,894.75 in restitution to a few of his victims.”
- Justices decide North Pond Hermit does not have to pay for road repair
Bangor Daily News reported that Knight “paid nearly $2,000 in restitution for the things he stole,” indicating that $2,000 was a rounded approximation rather than the exact court-ordered amount.
He was sentenced to seven months in jail on October 28, 2013
Knight was not actually sentenced on October 28, 2013. On that date he pleaded guilty and entered the Co-Occurring Disorders Court program; sentencing was deferred and the sentence was imposed later, in March 2015.
Full reasoning
This sentence compresses the case timeline in a way that makes it inaccurate.
On October 28, 2013, Knight pleaded guilty and was admitted to the Co-Occurring Disorders Court program. Contemporary coverage said that if he completed the program, he would later be sentenced to five years with all but seven months suspended, followed by probation. The judge explicitly said the sentence would be imposed at the completion of that program.
A later report on Knight’s March 2015 court appearance confirms that October 28, 2013 was the date he entered the program, not the date final sentence was imposed. That report states the favorable outcome under the plea agreement was a five-year prison sentence, with all but seven months suspended, and three years of probation, and that after finishing the program he began probation.
So the article is wrong to say Knight “was sentenced to seven months in jail on October 28, 2013.” The sentence was deferred at that time and imposed later; and the sentence was not merely seven months, but a longer term with all but seven months suspended.
3 sources
- Maine's 'North Pond Hermit' pleads guilty to 13 counts
On October 28, 2013, Knight was admitted to the Co-Occurring Disorders Court. The report says, “If he completes the program ... he will be sentenced to five years in jail, with all but seven months suspended,” and adds, “The judge said Knight's sentence will be imposed at the completion of the Co-Occurring Disorders Court.”
- 'North Pond Hermit' Knight completes specialty court program
The March 23, 2015 report says Knight “entered the Co-Occurring Disorders Court Program Oct. 28, 2013” and that the favorable plea outcome was “a five-year prison sentence, with all but seven months suspended, and three years of probation.”
- State v. Knight (2016 ME 123)
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court states that after Knight pleaded guilty in October 2013, “Imposition of sentence was deferred pending Knight's participation in the CODC,” and that the sentencing hearing occurred in March 2015.