18 Months-4 Years for Misdemeanor Resisting Arrest. Gee, That's Fair!

Judge Garfunkel

A New York man was sentenced to 18 months to 4 years in the State Penitentiary by a New Hamsphire judge for a misdemeanor offense of resisting arrest.  This is the Union-Leader's account: 

A Rochester, N.Y., man convicted last week of misdemeanor assault on a Manchester police officer and resisting arrest could spend four years in prison under a state law that allows extended sentencing for minor crimes.

Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge David Garfunkel (pic) on June 29 ordered Dominic Stanin, 44, serve 18 months to four years in state prison on a resisting arrest conviction. The judge also imposed a 2- to 4-year suspended sentence on the simple assault conviction. The offenses occurred May 19, 2010.

A misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum 12-month term in the county house of correction and up to $2,000 in fines.  However, state law allows the court to impose up to 2- to 5-year state prison terms if an individual has two prior convictions and served sentences exceeding one year, Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis C. Hogan said in a statement Tuesday.

Stanin served terms exceeding one year for three prior New York convictions, Hogan said. The convictions were for possession of stolen property, robbery and criminal mischief, he added.

A Hillsborough County jury convicted Stanin in May of pushing Manchester police Sgt. Jamie Gallant with his hand and resisting arrest, Hogan said.

It costs at least $25,949 a year to keep an inmate in prison in New Hampshre according to the National Institute of Corrections.
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Neat factoid at the end of this story.  Puts it in perspective.