Probation

Probation awaits a Bensalem woman who parked in a courthouse space reserved for the Bucks County district attorney, exchanged words with a judge who questioned her about it, and then scratched the judge's car. Cindy Marren, 44, who was charged with criminal mischief in January for scratching Bucks County Senior Judge Ward F. Clark's car with a key, was accepted yesterday into the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, through which...

A federal judge yesterday issued a sentence of probation for a Philadelphia construction contractor who cooperated with the FBI and admitted to giving a $20,000 bribe to a city real estate assessor for help in reducing tax payments and resolving other issues on four of his properties. U.S. District Judge James T. Giles sentenced James F. Campenella to five years of probation for committing honest-services fraud, a charge he pleaded guilty to in September. Campenella also was ordered to serve 100 hours of community service and pay a $250,000 fine.

Baltimore Ravens running back Bam Morris pleaded innocent in Texas to charges he violated his 1996 probation on a marijuana conviction, and a trial was scheduled for Jan. 12 to decide whether his probation should be revoked. If found guilty, Morris could face 10 years' imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. He also could be placed back on probation. Rockwall County District Attorney Ray Sumrow said Morris assaulted a woman in Maryland, drank alcohol and failed to report to his probation officer seven times from July 1996 to August 1997.

Todd Bodine was placed on probation yesterday by NASCAR for careless driving that triggered a multicar accident at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Bodine, driver of the No. 26 Ford, is on probation until Dec. 31. If there is another action this season that NASCAR officials deem detrimental or disruptive to a race, he will receive an indefinite suspension. "We've noticed numerous on-track incidents involving Todd, and we felt this was the proper step to take at this time," Winston Cup director John Darby said.

Phillies outfielder Jason Michaels yesterday was placed on six months probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service for fighting a Philadelphia police officer last year. "I'm glad this matter has been resolved," Michaels, 29, said after the sentencing in Philadelphia Municipal Court. "Basically, I'm looking forward to spring training. " Michaels, who on Monday signed a one-year contract with the Phillies worth $1.5 million, was arrested at 3 a.m. on July 3 after leaving 32 Degrees, a popular nightclub on South Second Street.

John E. Guiles Jr. of Warrington was charged with aggravated assault and attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse after his girlfriend called police on a May evening last year, contending that Guiles had beat her and attempted to rape her. On March 29, a jury found Guiles, of the 2100 block of Cresswald Terrace, guilty of simple assault but not guilty of the more serious charges leveled against him. On Tuesday in Bucks County Court,...

A Bristol Township man who was found unconscious in his automobile at the Bristol Borough railroad station was placed last week on one year probation for drug violations. Mark Cordisco, 30, of Foxwood Manor Apartments, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bristol police found him unconscious in the front seat of his car on Sept. 8, 1988. President Judge Isaac S. Garb imposed the probation to run consecutively with an 11 1/2- to 23-month sentence Cordisco is already serving for two parole violations in an unrelated matter.

A Philadelphia printer was placed on two years' probation yesterday for trying to cover up the free work his company did for John Shaw, former president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. William Strassheim, 37, owner of Strassheim Printing Co., on 15th Street near Vine in Center City, also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert F. Kelly to perform 100 hours of community service while on probation. In exchange for doing about $50,000 worth of printing for free on Shaw's FOP election and re-election campaigns in 1990 and 1992, Strassheim received all the FOP's printing business, grossing about $500,000.

The anti-war activists known as the Plowshares Eight received probation yesterday for a crime they committed 10 years ago in the name of peace. At yesterday's resentencing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Senior Judge James Buckingham of York County sentenced each group member to 23 months' probation, minus any time they have served in the case. Time served by the defendants ranged from five days to 9 1/2 months. Their original sentences, ranging from 1 1/2 to 10 years for trespassing and burglary for damaging military hardware in 1980, were overthrown two years ago by a Superior Court panel that ruled the sentencing judge had been too emotionally involved to hand down fair terms.

The message from federal judges presiding over Philadelphia police corruption cases is becoming increasingly clear - mercy will be shown to corrupt former officers who break the code of silence and become FBI witnesses. U.S. District Judge Edward N. Cahn repeated the message yesterday by sentencing ex-Lt. John Czmar to five years' probation. The testimony of Czmar, an admitted member of a police extortion ring, led to the conviction of former Chief Inspector Eugene Sullivan, once one of the most powerful men on the force.