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Helen Fettes, 81, was sentenced to five years of house arrest and $128,000 in restitution this morning for covering up an October 2011 hit-and-run that left a 13-year-old boy dead.

Her charges included vehicular homicide, failure to stop after a motor vehicle accident and tampering with evidence.

It was a story that garnered a great deal of attention for all of the players involved and for its tragic details. It was one day before Charlie Kho’s 13th birthday when Fettes hit him with her 2008 Mercury Sable in Olmsted Falls and drove off. Later, Fettes tried to get the car fixed up a local auto dealership without notifying her insurance company. An observant secretary noticed suspicious damage to the front of her car; it appeared as if Fettes had him something large, like a deer or a human.

Here’s the word from The Plain Dealer’s Mark Gillespie:

The mother, father and uncle of Charlie Kho asked Judge Hollie Gallagher to give 81-year-old Helen Fettes the maximum sentence of 6 1/2 years. Gallagher instead sentenced her to house arrest and revoked her driver’s license for life.

Play judge for a minute and leave your sentencing suggestions in the comments section below.

Semi-relatedly, a short-lived blog called “Judge Hollie Gallagher – Corrupt Judge” spent a few days in March 2010 both haranguing Gallagher for her approach to sentencing and committing heinous acts against the English language.

This article appears in Jan 9-15, 2013.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

5 replies on “Sentenced: House Arrest, Restitution for Woman’s Hit-And-Run Cover-Up”

  1. What a miscarriage of Justice.
    Watch as the old bird plays by the rules of past Cleveland Officials and claims bankruptcy, SSDI benefits, driving privledges to and from work (so what she is over 80) and SHE ends up making money, maybe a book and movie deal ,and the poor parents have to still deal with their child is gone and this bitch got off for the most part scott free due to this dumb ass bitch “Judge”.
    The REAL Gallagher ought to be allowed to take the Sledge O’matic to her sorry ass.

  2. I am numb and sick over this! Helen Fettes a miserable excuse for a human being, kills a child, tries to cover it up and gets nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Shows you how screwed up our so called Justice system is. Also, remember the name, Judge Hollie Gallagher at election time, she is not fit to sit on the Bench!

  3. I can’t believe the verdict on Fettes, the women literally got away with murder, thanks to that asshole Judge Hollie Galagher

  4. You hit a 13 year old, then drove off and left your victim to die instead of getting help, calling police, administering aid, or doing something else that could have resulted in your victim’s life being saved. Your gross negligence caused this thirteen year old to die, and you alone are responsible. You are hereby sentenced to pay restitution of all legal fees and funeral costs to your victim’s family. Your drivers license will be revoked for the rest of your life also. Finally, last but not least, you have ended this 13 year old’s life much, much too soon; I sentence you to 13 years in prison, one for each year of his life that you ended.

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