Criminal Justice
Stop Smoking or You Will Get the Max, Judge Tells Woman Freed Early for Heart Transplant
A New York judge was clearly irked yesterday after learning that a woman he freed early so she could have a heart transplant is not cooperating with efforts to provide her with the potentially life-saving operation.
If Diane McCloud, 48, doesn’t stop smoking by June 10, Nassau County District Court Judge Francis Ricigliano told her, she’s not only going back to jail but will be resentenced to the maximum term, according to the New York Post and Newsday (sub. req.).
McCloud had been serving a 15-month sentence on Long Island for stealing merchandise from a Target store, but Ricigliano agreed to let her out of jail early after he was told she was expected to die if she didn’t receive a heart transplant soon.
