OHIO WOMAN GETS 5 YEAR PAROLE BUT HAS TO SPEND 3 DAYS IN JAIL EVERY CHRISTMAS UNTIL TIME SERVED

BETTINA YOUNG

An Ohio woman who ran a black market business providing illegal immigrants with IDs was sentenced to five years of parole yesterday - with the added condition that she spend at least three days in jail every Christmas.
The sentence was handed down to 44-year-old Betina Young by Judge Michael Holbrook who has been giving out these unique holiday sentences - called 'Holbrook holidays' - since he was elected to his position in 2004.

Judge Holbrook's bailiff David Petikas told MailOnline that 'Holbrook holidays' give parolees an idea of what real prison time would be like, and who really suffers if they continue their life of crime. 

JUDGE MICHAEL HOLBROOK

'It's a reminder of who they are letting down and the toll it may take on your family during the holidays,' Petikas said. 

However, Petikas also said that parolees are offered the opportunity to work hard to complete the conditions of their parole and can be off probation in as little as a year and a half.

Young pled guilty in May on five counts of tampering with records.

In addition to probation and Holbrook Holidays, Young will have to pay a $3,000 fine.
If she skips out on any of her holidays in jail, she will have to spend 15 years in prison.

A former employee of the deputy registrar's office in Gahanna, Young would secretly set up payment plans with illegal immigrants to falsifying their records.

SEKOU KPOTO

Young worked with 42-year-old Sekou Kpoto, who would solicit the bribes from the foreign nationals and transport them to the Gahanna agency where Young worked.

In seven years, Young issued 95 fraudulent licenses according to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

An investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security found that Kpoto received $700 to $1500 for each false ID, and split a portion with Young. 
 
Kpoto himself will face trial next Tuesday, and is also charged with five counts of tampering with records.