Grapski gets 10 years probation, 150 days in jail

other means of punishment.  An adjudication withheld decision for Grapski means that the court will not formally convict him of the charges, but it does not necessarily negate the jury’s conviction.

Grapski was sentenced to five years probation for each of the two felonies of which the jury convicted him.  Those probation sentences are to run consecutively, which puts Grapski under greater scrutiny for a total of 10 years.

The judge also sentenced Grapski to 150 days in jail, of which, 105 had previously been served and credited toward the sentence.  That leaves Grapski with 45 days yet to serve which the judge agreed would begin on June 18 to allow Grapski to continue teaching, if he is currently doing so.

Although the date of incarceration was delayed, the one-time political activist will be behind bars for a full consecutive 45-day period.  That came after the judge denied a request by Stephen Bernstein, Grapski’s defense attorney, to allow Grapski to complete the 45 days on the weekends.

In addition to the probation and jail sentence, Grapski will be under community control for a period of 18 months, restricting where he can go without prior approval.  He’ll be required to spend 45 days on an Alachua County work crew as well as write letters of apology to Alachua Police Department Detective Patrick Barcia and Officer Chris Latimer.  Both Latimer and Barcia were injured following Grapski’s 2007 arrest at the police department.  Grapski was also ordered to stay away from all city government buildings in Alachua and complete an anger management program.

On Grapski’s behalf, three colleagues and friends spoke to the court about his value to society and how not withholding adjudication would almost certainly prevent Grapski from ever returning to a doctoral program and or being employed.  As a counter to those sentiments, Alachua Commissioner Jean Calderwood recounted incidences involving Grapski and explained that the political activist had repeatedly engaged in threatening and intimidating behavior.

“The courts and society have given Mr. Grapski every opportunity to participate.

“He should be treated no worse, but also no better than another criminal is treated,” said Calderwood.

Nilon referred back to Calderwood’s statements saying that Grapski should have known that his turning to violence after being arrested was not appropriate.

“You, of all people, should have known your ability to access the courts was in your favor.  But you didn’t want to seek access through the courts that day.

“You are a smart and gifted intellectual person.

“What I’ve seen is you try to use that intellect to bully people.

“You don’t know where your individual liberties stop,” Nilon said.

The judge even went so far as to say that perhaps the court shouldn’t withhold adjudication, because that would have a “lasting and severe consequence” on Grapski.

“But I am reminded by Ms. Calderwood’s statements, that I shouldn’t treat you any better or any worse than anyone else appearing here,” said Nilon.

Grapski did make a statement at the urging of the judge.  In that statement, Grapski verbally apologized to anyone hurt in the course of his arrest.

“If anything happened to harm or hurt anyone, it was not my intent.

“Perhaps at times I am too insistent…I believe in our system and I want it to work,” Grapski said.

In the minutes following the closing of the case related to Grapski’s 2007 arrest at the Alachua Police Department, he reached a plea deal on a second case in which he was charged with yet another battery on a law enforcement officer, this time at the Alachua County jail.

In that case, Grapski allegedly refused to comply with orders from correctional officers at the Alachua County jail and reportedly caused one female officer to suffer injuries to her elbow.  Grapski did not dispute the facts of the case, and plead no contest Tuesday.

For the second case, Judge Nilon once again ordered that Grapski serve five years of probation, 150 days in jail and 18 months of community control, all to run concurrently with the sentencing in the first case.  The result is that Grapski won’t serve any additional time than in the first case.  The judge also ordered that adjudication in that case be withheld also and that Grapski write a letter of apology to that injured officer.