Virginia man gets 5 years in cocaine case while in ambulance

RICHMOND, Va. – A convicted drug dealer who weighs 750 pounds (340 kilograms) was sentenced to five years in prison during a hearing that was held in a courthouse loading dock as he lay on a stretcher inside an ambulance.

U.S. District Judge David Novak sentenced Kenneth Hicks on Tuesday on federal cocaine conspiracy charges.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that his sentencing hearing was held in a courthouse loading dock because Hicks’ weight required that he attend from the back of an ambulance.

When Hicks pleaded guilty in May, his hearing was also held in the loading dock. The judge wrote that the court took the unusual measures to deal with Hicks’ health issues and to “protect his dignity.”

Novak rejected a request from Hicks’ lawyer that Hicks be allowed to serve his sentence in home detention.