Deadly Sign Prank Sends 3 to Prison

MIAMI — In a courtroom suffused with tears, a young woman and two men were each sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday after being found guilty of taking down a stop sign at a rural intersection where three other young people later died when their car collided with a truck.

Even Circuit Judge Bob Anderson Mitcham struggled to keep from crying as he meted out prison terms to the sobbing defendants, each of whom was convicted last month of three counts of manslaughter and grand theft.

“I don’t believe for one minute that you or the other two defendants pulled these signs up with intent of causing the death of anyone,” Mitcham told Christopher Cole, 20, as he and his parents stood in the Tampa courtroom and fought to choke back tears.

But, the judge added, the trio’s night of vandalism, during which they admitted stealing about 19 other road signs, “has caused ramifications that none of you may ever have expected.”

Mitcham then sentenced Cole, his girlfriend, Nissa Baillie, 21, and Thomas Miller, 20, to 30 years in prison, suspending 15 years. Under Florida law, they must serve at least 85% of their sentence, or 13 years. They could have received life terms.

“I think some mercy should be shown to you and the other defendants in this case,” said Mitcham, renowned for handing out stiff jail terms. “To put you in prison for 50 years seems an absolute waste of your life, so I’m not going to do that.”

The sentencing brings to a close a case that has brought wrenching tragedy to the six families involved and, as a gripping illustration of the potentially horrific consequences of an all-too-common prank, has caught the attention of the nation.

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The random senselessness of the crime and the fatal crash were not lost on the judge, who said: “There is not anything that can be done to bring back the lives of the three young people that we’ve lost--nothing. And in essence, we’re losing three more lives.”

The defendants admitted taking road signs “for a rush,” as Cole said, but denied tampering with the stop sign that lay face down in the grass the night of Feb. 7, 1996, when a white Camaro carrying three 18-year-olds was broadsided by an eight-ton Mack truck loaded with fertilizer. Killed instantly were Kevin Farr, Brian Hernandez and Randall White.

In the past week, White’s mother, Ann Hertle, joined defense lawyers in asking for a new trial, criticizing the investigation by Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies and saying she did not believe Cole, Baillie and Miller were guilty. Miller’s attorney, Joe Episcopo, argued that a prosecution witness had been coerced into lying by Assistant State Atty. Leland Baldwin.

After a two-day hearing earlier this week, Mitcham on Friday denied the defense motion for a new trial and proceeded with sentencing.

June Farr, Kevin’s mother, told the court, “I hate deeply what they did, but I don’t hate them.” However, both she and her husband, Les, asked the judge to give the defendants the maximum penalty.

In a final plea for mercy in sentencing, Miller turned to the victims’ parents to express remorse for committing theft but again denied he had touched the stop sign at the crash site.

Farr remained unmoved. “I still don’t believe they feel any remorse for their actions,” she said later. “They have remorse [that] they got caught. Everybody has remorse when they’re caught.”

Pending appeal, bond for Cole and Baillie was set at $50,000. Bond for Miller, who has a juvenile record, was set at $60,000.

Times researcher Anna M. Virtue contributed to this story.