About $35 a year is how much Judge Robert Burner estimates Jonathan Pickerl "earned" from the crimes he committed.

Pickerl, 18, of South Bend, was sentenced Friday afternoon in Kosciusko Superior Court for his involvement in an "Amish bashing" case. He was the last of five defendants in the case and one of two who entered guilty pleas without an agreement as to the sentencing.

He was ordered to serve four years of a six-year sentence, with the remaining two years suspended for probation. Burner pointed out to Pickerl after sentencing that while he opted to victimize the Amish after quitting a job at which he felt he wasn't making enough money, he wasn't as smart as he thought. Pickerl came away from the February attack on an Amish man with $140, or $35 per year to be spent in prison.

"Are you really that dumb?" Burner asked Pickerl. "Everyone sitting in jail tells me how good they're gonna be when they get out ... seven of 10 come back."

Burner said the reason he sentenced Pickerl to six years, rather than the 20 years maximum the Class B felony robbery offense could have brought, was because of Pickerl's age. Pickerl was also sentenced to 18 months in prison for theft, a Class D felony. That term was ordered served concurrent to the first.

Burner also asked Pickerl why he hasn't obtained his GED after passing the pre-test, and pointed out that the only chance he's got is education.

Pickerl, along with Jennifer Krull, Erik L. Stevenson, William R. Neiswenger and Roger F. Briscoe, all of Nappanee, admitted targeting the Amish for robberies as they rode their bicycles on county roads.

The five would drive along deserted county roads looking for Amish bicyclists. One of the accused would hold a pipe or tire iron out the window as the car drove by, knocking the rider off the bicycle. The victim, always male, would then be robbed of his wallet.

Krull, who was also sentenced without a plea agreement, was the driver on at least one occasion. The five were not always together when the incidents occurred, but all took part in at least one of the crimes during a two-month period.

Pickerl was also ordered to make restitution to the victims of his offenses and to repay the county for the cost of his court-appointed attorney.

All of the defendants in the case received similar sentences, with those having plea agreements also being ordered to serve 500 hours of community service. [[In-content Ad]]