KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A man apologized in court to the FedEx driver he attacked in 2022, but the judge said that did not undo the damage of the assault or the racial slurs the defendant used.
“I’ve been in criminal law, either as an attorney or now a judge, for 26 years. What you did stands out to me. It’s something I’ll never forget. It’s that bad,” Judge Kenneth Barnard told John Hulst during a Monday morning sentencing hearing in Kalamazoo.
The judge went above the guidelines and sentenced Hulst, 38, to the maximum of 16 months to two years in prison for ethnic intimidation and 93 days for assault and battery.
“If I could give you a day more, I would,” Barnard said.
He said he wanted to order back-to-back sentences, but the law required them to run at the same time. Hulst will also have to pay court costs and about $612 in restitution.
Barnard said the guidelines, which called for probation and up to a year in jail, were “wholly inadequate” because they did not take into account his responsibility to protect the community and the history of racism.