I want to put a character in prison for around 6 years. It's in a children's book, and he is a sympathetic character, so it has to be for a fairly "harmless" crime. It would be good if it was somehow linked to his over-active imagination - so maybe something like fraud, or being a con man? Anyone have any ideas what he could go down for?
Thanks!
L

For a character to do six years inside, he was probably sent down for ten. You don't do a ten year stretch for harmless crimes. You might need to change the sentence to months rather than years. Why not put him inside for a minor offence on top of a suspended sentence?

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A friend of mine did eighteen months for receiving stolen goods while on a suspended for assault.

If the sums of money are big enough in a 'harmless' crime - bank fraud or whatever - sentences can be pretty long, it seems to me. And yes, longer if it's on top of a previous suspended sentence.

Emma

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Would the sentence be longer if the fraud was of a 'deserving' cause such as a charity? Or if it was public money what was stolen?

It has to be years, not months, I'm afraid. Five years minimum, or else I have to think of another reason for him to be off the scene for that long.
I was thinking something like big money fraud, yes. Like Nick Leeson - how long did he get?

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Or if he was a serial con-man - defrauding a series of people or businesses before he got caught?

I believe the rules on length of sentence are very strict, although individual judges may interpret them in different ways. It might mean that, if the victim was a deserving cause, he might have to serve more of his sentence before being considered for early release. However, I wouldn’t think that sort of crime would endear him to readers.

Is it essential he committed a crime? Could he have been wrongly convicted? Perhaps he was conned into helping with a robbery, but then his unprincipled accomplice blamed him for, say, a violent attack on the victim.

Dee

Hi,

You may be interested in this. The man said in his defence he was under pressure to hit targets but he still got ten years. I worked at the same bank at the same time which is why I remembered it. I dont think he was a bad guy and he still got a long sentence.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1807481,00.html

Hope it helps,

Eve.

He'd spend more of his sentence inside if he behaved badly in prison - say, in an honorable (and therefore sympathetic) way? Got into trouble for defending another prisoner from bullying which led to a fracas?

Emma

Perhaps he was conned into helping with a robbery, but then his unprincipled accomplice blamed him for, say, a violent attack on the victim

That could work. It has to be some sort of a crime - down somehow to his unfortunate habit of over-embellishing the truth - but it could work that he just got himself into a stupid situation through his boasting & ended up in worse trouble than he'd anticipated. Maybe if he'd told everyone he was a real hard nut & then got roped into a robbery which went wrong...? Maybe as the getaway driver?

Eve, that's an interesting link, thanks. Esp. as this guy seems to have an element of wanting to live above his means, (acc. to the police) like my character.

Could it be
a) he didn't really do the crime but thinks he did for some reason
b) he feels responsible for the crime even though he didn't actually commit it so he talks about it in ways that make him appear guilty
c) he's protecting someone else and is really only guilty by association
d) he's been framed

Naomi

How about getting in with the wrong crowd abroad, due to his over-embellishing, and foolishly agreeing to carry something through customs..... eg the Bangok scenario - or does he have to be jailed in GB?

Casey

I have to say I'd go with Naomi's list - it's the usual way such requirements are handled in Hollywood

As already mentioned, 6 years of physical incarceration is a LONG time and it's hard to think of any crime deserving such a sentence that would be considered 'harmless'. Even 'white collar' crime such as fraud usually hurts someone down the line and a 10 year sentence would reflect that hurt.

If your character must have committed a crime (i.e., actually done it) then I'd probably go for 'causing death by dangerous driving'. While this is usually associated with the bad and irresponsible it also applies to more 'innocent' accidents such as those caused by being unfit to drive or through distraction. The best recent example is Gary Hart, the man responsible for the Selby train crash in February 2001 in which 10 people died. He fell asleep at the wheel after staying up all night on the Net and drove down an embankment onto the tracks.

The maximum sentence for death by dangerous driving is 10 years, which is just right for a 6 year served term, although note that Hart only got 5, despite killing 10 people.

Jon