She was too nervous to speak on her own behalf, so Jennifer Krull's attorney asked the court for leniency in sentencing for her part in what has been called "Amish bashing."

Krull, 21, of 251 E. Lincoln St., Nappanee, was the first of the five defendants in the case to be sentenced without a pre-arranged plea agreement. However, taking that gamble did not affect the outcome - Kosciusko Superior Court Judge Robert Burner sentenced Krull on Thursday to six years in prison, with two years suspended for probation. That is the same amount of prison time received by the three defendants already sentenced. Unlike the others, Krull was not ordered to serve 500 hours of community service.

The final defendant, Jonathon Pickerl of South Bend, will be sentenced Sept. 26. He also does not have a plea agreement.

Krull's imprisonment is for the Class B felony conspiracy to commit robbery charge. Burner dismissed the Class D felony theft charge. She earlier pleaded guilty to both charges.

Arguing for a minimum sentence, Krull's court-appointed attorney Mike Reed said his client was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn't contemplate that any serious harm would take place. She was the driver in the incident that broke the case and resulted in her arrest.

Krull; Pickerl; and Erik L. Stevenson, William R. Neiswender and Roger F. Briscoe, all of Nappanee, were involved in several incidents during January and February in which Amish men were knocked from their bicycles and robbed. Not all of the suspects took part in every incident.

Reed said Krull should be treated differently than the others because of her lack of criminal history. "Age and immaturity are part of the reason for her actions," Reed said. "I think probation is appropriate."

Deputy Prosecutor Chuck Waggoner told the court Krull should "pay the price" for her actions, and the fact that she didn't "contemplate" injuries only shows that she didn't care.

"No one was driving that car besides Jennifer Krull," Waggoner said. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time because she was going to commit a crime ... she didn't contemplate getting caught."

Burner said that he elected to impose the minimum prison time because Krull has no criminal record. He also pointed out that although no one was injured in the incident Krull was involved in, it doesn't lessen the fact that the crime occurred.

"You could have ignored the passengers in your car and you wouldn't be here," Burner said. "You made the offense possible by providing the motor vehicle."

The five accused in the case apparently targeted Amish men as they rode their bicycles along country roads, drove alongside them and struck them with a tire iron to knock them to the ground. The men were then robbed of their wallets. One of the incidents resulted in a victim suffering a broken collarbone, which was the most serious injury reported. [[In-content Ad]]