ILLINOIS
NWI Times
Jim Masters Times Correspondent
HAMMOND | Jack Schaap, the imprisoned former First Baptist Church of Hammond pastor, says in court documents he would have gone to trial on charges he sexually abused a 16-year-old church member rather than plead guilty if he was aware of how harsh his sentence would be.
Schaap, who is petitioning to have his 12-year sentence vacated, contends his attorney advised him his sentence would be a maximum 120 months if he pleaded guilty, more likely between three and four years, and perhaps as low as 18 months.
Schaap’s legal brief offers Sixth Amendment claims he had ineffective legal counsel. Upon entering his guilty plea, Schaap told Judge Rudy Lozano he did not realize his actions — which included having the girl driven from Illinois to Michigan to engage in sexual activity — were illegal.
A brief filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster seeking denial of Schaap’s appeal points to contradictions in his statements during sentencing proceedings in which “he acknowledged he faced a minimum 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.”
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