The 34-year-old former FAA airport tower controller, who was charged and pleaded guilty to offering a woman a ride in his car, driving her to another location, strangling her until she was unconscious, and then masturbating on her, has been released on three years’ probation. Justin Schneider will not serve jail time, the judge saying his “time served,” living with his parents and wearing an ankle monitor, is enough. Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Andrew Grannik told news outlets that expert opinion on the low recidivism rates of perpetrators like Schneider was one of the reasons he was accepting a deal that didn’t include anymore prison time. Grannik also said that the loss of Schneider’s federal job was in itself a “life sentence.”
"I hope [re-offending] doesn't happen," Grannik said. "That's the reason why I made the deal that I've made, because I have reasonable expectations that it will not happen. But I would like the gentleman to be on notice that that is his one pass -- it's not really a pass -- but given the conduct, one might consider that it is."
Schneider had this to say to the court.
"I would just like to emphasize how grateful I am for this process," Schneider said. "It has given me a year to really work on myself and become a better person, and a better husband, and a better father, and I'm very eager to continue that journey."
One thing you will notice in that statement is that it lacks even a mention of Schneider’s victim. According to KTVA, Schneider didn’t mention her at all, nor the effect of his actions on her. The attack took place in the summer of 2017. Anchorage CBS affiliate KTVA reported on the assault back in August of that year.
During sentencing, Judge Michael Corey made the strange statement that Schneider would be a part of the community even if he had been found guilty of all of the charges against him (kidnapping, sexual assault), but that he wouldn’t be in jail for the rest of his life anyway. This is not an argument against giving someone jail time. It’s an argument for definitely giving someone like Schneider treatment and rehabilitation. However, jail time and rehabilitation are not mutually exclusive.
Judge Corey also said, “This can never happen again.” Which is a nothingburger as far as warnings go, since literally everything someone pleads guilty to comes with the caveat that they should never do that thing ever again, so as to not have to plead guilty to it again. If Justin Schneider was not white and male, I suspect that being allowed to wear an ankle monitor for the last two years, living at home, would not be enough of a sentence for Judge Corey.
Here’s something unrelated.