Dougherty and Povill conferred in a hallway outside the courtroom during the recess. During their conversation Povill assured him, Dougherty said later, that the district attorney’s office had duly mailed Hughes’s final restitution check to the fire company a day earlier.
Williams reconvened the case after a 20-minute delay. Satisfied that Company No. 3, and the Woodstock Fire Department in general, would be “made whole” by a penalty of full restitution, with incarceration left to the discretion of the court, Williams invited Hughes and his lawyer, Bryan Rounds, to make statements before the sentence was imposed.
Rounds spoke first. Hughes, he said, had made a full, videotaped confession of his crime; had been “very open and honest” throughout the legal proceeding; had repaid what he believed to be the entirety of the stolen money, until more was discovered; had offered no excuses for his conduct and expressed shame over it; and now stood ready to accept his punishment. Seeking leniency for his client, Rounds observed that Hughes’s age and medical status — heart problems, aggravated by stress, said the lawyer — would “make him more vulnerable as an inmate.” As a convicted felon, Hughes would also lose his license to practice law, he noted.
“This is a sad day for him,” said Rounds, noting that it had been an “absolute pleasure” to have Hughes as a client. “He did a selfish thing. He was in a bad financial situation, so he took money out of Company No. 3 accounts. There has been a loss of public trust here, but no financial loss (for the fire company). Mr. Hughes has lost his reputation. He not only served his country as a Marine who is a Vietnam combat veteran, but also has helped his community, using his law degree and his knowledge for the public good and through public service, creating green spaces for ourselves and our children. He has worked much of the time with very little compensation.”
“It appears that he took care of that,” Williams noted wryly, alluding to Rounds’s final remark.
The judge offered his own statement before pronouncing the sentence, noting that he had studied the case. Addressing Hughes, Williams acknowledged the defendant’s relative virtues. The crime he committed was nonviolent. He had made restitution voluntarily, before the court ordered him to do so. He had served his country in a war that was unpopular at the time. “Most important to this court,” said Williams, “you have made a full and complete acceptance of your responsibility and haven’t once made an excuse for your conduct. I believe that local incarceration serves the interest of justice and the community.”
The judge continued: “The victims have requested leniency, and others have said that embarrassment and other aspects of a felony conviction are sufficient punishment, but this court is deeply troubled by the conduct that has resulted in your conviction. To steal, over a five-year period, any amount from people who risk their lives to protect their community is inexcusable. To this court it is incomprehensible and disturbing — not just a violation of the trust of the individuals you worked with, but a violation of the public trust. I also believe that lawyers and public servants must be held to a higher standard than others are.”
“The arguments for leniency are far outweighed by the seriousness of the crime,” Williams concluded. The judge pronounced the sentence, waiving court fees in consideration of the defendant’s depleted resources. An armed court officer promptly accosted Hughes, restrained his hands behind his back, and escorted him into the sunlit hallway and, beyond it, the custody of the state.
