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Judge offers pepper-spraying woman a choice between jail and a shot of her own medicine

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A judge known for his creative sentences told an Ohio woman who pleaded guilty to assault with pepper spray that she had a choice: She could go to jail for 30 days or she could let the victim spray her with the chemical.

During her sentencing for assault last Thursday, Diamond Gaston on Painesville chose the pepper spray, report Fox8, the Associated Press, NewsNet5 and 19 Action News.

Judge Michael Cicconetti, who is known for his creative sentences, gave the pepper spray canister to the victim. It wasn’t filled with pepper spray, however. Instead it was a canister used in police training that was filled with water.

Gaston kept her glasses on and turned away when the water hit her in the face. “I had sprayed myself in the eye with it three times just to make sure it was safe,” Cicconetti told NewsNet 5.

After the spraying, Gaston said she had learned her lesson. Cicconetti imposed an additional sentence of three days’ community service.

In another sentencing on Thursday, Cicconetti told a woman who didn’t pay her cabdriver for a 30-mile ride that she had two options: She could go to jail for 60 days, or she could walk 30 miles at the county fairgrounds over a two-day period. She opted for the latter. She will also have to pay restitution of $100.

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