BAY CITY, MI -- In a soft-spoken, mumbling tone, a Saginaw man expressed his regret and embarrassment for masturbating in the parking lot of a Bay County Meijer.

Nicholas A. Hockey on Thursday, Aug. 25, appeared before Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer to learn the penalty for his lewd misdeed. The judge ended up giving him both jail and probation time, as well as some court fines and costs.

Hockey in July pleaded no contest to one count of indecent exposure, a one-year misdemeanor.

"I'm very sorry to bring this matter to the court," Hockey told the judge. "It never should have happened. I want to get my life straightened around. I had a lapse of judgment; I made a big mistake. I just want to get my life back on track and leave all this behind me."

"Mr. Hockey, this is a serious offense," Janer replied. "This is more than just a flashing type of incident. This is seeking out women in local store parking lots. I'm concerned that if there isn't a serious sanction for this, that I'm not driving home the point this won't be tolerated in this community, understood?"

"I understand," a hangdog Hockey said. "It's one of the worse decisions I've ever made."

Janer sentenced Hockey to 90 days in jail with an additional 90 days held in abeyance. Upon release, Hockey is to serve 15 months'probation and complete a sex offender risk assessment at Saginaw Psychological Services. He is to follow all treatment recommendations that stem from that assessment.

"If you're a model probationer, you won't have to do the other 90 days," Janer told Hockey. The judge also ordered Hockey to pay $1,025 in court fines and costs.

Before the sentence was imposed, defense attorney Edward M. Czuprynski argued for his client to receive a lenient sentence with a focus on counseling over incarceration to ensure he could keep his job. He added that Hockey has lost custody of his 9-year-old son as a result of his crime.

"He doesn't know why this occurred, frankly," Czuprynski said. "He's embarrassed and ashamed about it. He's anxious to get mental health counseling to prevent any reoccurrences from ever happening. Let's give this young man an opportunity to correct the wrong behavior, to remedy the problem so he doesn't pose any future harm to women in a parking lot."

Hockey's case stems from police on the afternoon of May 3 responding to the Kroger at 2910 Center Road in Hampton Township for a report of a man in the lot asking women for directions. The man was reportedly driving a green Chevrolet Malibu sedan, court records show.

The responding officer located a vehicle matching that description leaving the lot near the Tim Hortons and followed it to the nearby Dollar Tree store. The officer approached the driver, identified as Hockey. Hockey initially told the officer he was not asking for directions at the Kroger, then said he was indeed doing that.

The officer returned to his patrol car and was notified by Bay County Central Dispatch that they had received complaints of the same man at the Meijer at 595 N. Pine Road in Hampton Township, masturbating in his car.

"At first, Nicholas said he was not at Meijer and it was not him," the officer wrote in his report, contained in court records. "Nicholas then stated he was there and did masturbate while he was in his car, but that it happened a week ago. Nicholas stated a female drove by several times while he was doing it and he did not make contact with her. Nicholas said he is just trying to meet girls and that is probably the right way to do it."

Police spoke with staff at Meijer, who said a female customer complained about the lewd activity. Police contacted the woman, who told them she was getting out of her vehicle when a green car pulled up beside her. The male driver asked her for directions and she began looking them up for him on her phone, she said.

When the woman neared the car to show the driver her phone, she noticed he was masturbating, she told police.

Judge Janer allowed Hockey to not report to the Bay County Jail until 7 p.m. Thursday so he could get his affairs in order.