Top College Basketball Recruit Tony Farmer Faints in Court After Receiving 3-Year Prison Sentence [VIDEO]

August 23, 2012 by The Master Chief

Video footage showing a highly sought after high school basketball prospect from Ohio collapsing in court after he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for assaulting and kidnapping his girlfriend is making its rounds on the Internet this week.

Cameras in the courtroom captured the shock on 18-year-old Tony Farmer‘s face as Judge Pamela Barker read the details of his jail sentence aloud.

“I got three years?” the clearly stunned (and somewhat confused) basketball star was heard asking his lawyer aloud, as Barker continued with sentencing, slapping Farmer with two years for felonious assault and two years for robbery.

At that point, Farmer, under the impression that he was headed to prison for the next seven years, collapsed to the floor in true “Oh My Lawd Jesus!” fashion. (Watch below)

His family friends, who assumed he would only get a slap on the wrist, sobbed and cried aloud before running out of the courtroom.

“I haven’t finished yet,” Barker sternly said from the bench, as a court officer struggled to bring Farmer to his feet.

“Tony, come on Tony,” Farmer’s lawyer, Joe Dubyak said. “It’s not as bad as you think it is.”

After Farmer got back up, Judge Barker explained to him that his terms would be served concurrently, and that he would only spend three years behind bars.

Farmer, a rising high school senior, was indicted back in May stemming from a fight with his now ex-girlfriend Andrea Lane at her apartment building in April 2011.

Prosecutors said video cameras in the lobby and parking lot captured Farmer as he assaulted Lane, dragged her by her hair, and then took her cell phone, bank card, laptop computer and car keys. (See below)

Farmer was also charged with intimidation for sending Lane threatening text messages and voicemails.

Believe it or not, prior to his sentencing, Farmer’s ex-girlfriend provided an impact statement on his behalf, asking the judge to not send him to prison.

“I don’t know what type of help he needs. I don’t know what was wrong with him that day. I know he was a good person. I hope he still is. I hope he learns from this,” Lane said.

Farmer’s basketball coach also spoke for him, telling the court, “I’m here to say with my heart, that this young man, if you give him an opportunity, in five years from now, he’s gonna make you proud. I know it. I know him.”

But after reviewing the tape of the assault, the judge decided that some time behind bars was what Farmer deserved.

Judge Barker said of the video:

“Lane is literally cowering in a corner and she is trying to push him away from her. And ultimately, then, he, hits her in the head several times as she is cowered in that corner. That’s what the court witnessed on those videotapes, and that does not incorporate, as far as I understand, is all that took place because this was within the confines of the apartment complex.”

In addition to the prison sentence, Farmer also got probation, and the judge said that he can apply for early release after serving 180 days. But regardless, with those criminal convictions on his record, it is very likely that his basketball career is now over.

As Farmer heads to prison, the judge says that he only has himself to blame for the dark cloud that now hangs over his once bright future. “The opportunities that were lost, I would just say that he lost them,” said Barker.

Tony Farmer, standing at a height of 6-foot-7 and weighing 220 pounds, was one of the most highly recruited high school basketball players in the entire state of Ohio.

The Associated Press named him Second Team All-Ohio for the 2011-12 season, and he was widely considered one of the top 100 basketball players for the class of 2013.

Farmer was also reportedly being recruited by several major college programs, including Michigan State, Illinois and Xavier.

[Sources: 1, 2, 3]

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  • hosch

    This is a disgusting woman. She just robbed that kid of his life, looked smug as hell while she was doing it.

    • Monique

      What if he did that shit to your daughter, sister, or mother? Oh I forgot he is a glorified athlete, and it’s okay to beat up on women, or better yet kill them and get off with a slap on the wrist. Justice was finally served. He is a piece of shit, and Karma is a bitch!

    • man

      she didn’t rob him ,he gave it up when he laid his hands and feet on that woman!!!

  • Mimi

    Actually Hosch, he wasn’t robbed, he gave it away the moment he viciously attacked his girlfriend. Right before HE ROBBED HER of her bank card, computer, careys, self respect and dignity….GET REAL

    • Truthteller

      (claps)

    • man

      also (claps)

  • Mimi

    Look at his families reaction….if my son ever did that to a woman going to jail would be a better option than the punishment my husband and myself would inflict. They are crying over the realization the gravy train has been derailed….and that’s the truth

    • John Doe

      Mimi you’re a dumbass, she gave him the maximum sentence for this shit because she felt like it. Sure wat he did was wrong and I’m not saying there should should be no punishment however, she only did this to prove she has power and has the ability to ruin a bright future like the kid this one has. It was an ego trip. He didn’t have to go to jail for 3 years, she completely screwed him for her own amusement. You can tell she has no heart, the kid fainted and her response was “I’m not finished.” If the kid wasn’t a good person at heart, the girl who he assaulted wouldn’t have voluntarily stepped forward to say “Do not send him to jail” or the coach. Think before you speak. Also good to know you’d do worse to your own kids than what could happen in a prison, parenting of the year award, you should get some sort of medal because you’d punish your kid worse than that if your son ever did that. Stupidity in the world today amazes me, especially in the stuck up parents who think their kids are goodie two shoes and can do no wrong. Wake the hell up, there’s a lot worse stuff in the world today.

    • Truthteller

      Battered women will say anything. do your homework. That girl is terrified of him. The coach wanted to be able to claim this boys training for his own career. This is not a good kid. This is an abusive monster. Anybody who would hit a girl like this–especially a 6 1/2 foot guy is a degenerate. He was dumb to give somebody the power to send him to prison–he was dumb to think he could do whatever the hell he pleases to another person. He attacked her where she lived…..when something like that happens, the victims terror never subsides….they will never feel safe again. Im glad the judge threw the book at him. If he cared about his future, he would not have done this.

    • man

      she is a judge,she can not have any emotion for any case !!!!

    • spokensoftly

      John you are not only a Doe, you are Dumb.

    • Truthteller

      This boy is a fool, and now he is paying the price for it. The judge said that 3 years was the minimum sentence. He thought that because he was a high school basketball sought being heavily courted that he was above the law. Imaging what this damn fool would have done if he had the millions from pro ball–he would abuse women with near impunity. I don’t feel bad for him. The fact that he and his family thought he would get a slap on the wrist after kicking a woman in the head with his size 17 shoe, threatening her even after there was a no contact ruling says a lot about his dark character. That girl is just a child and already has batterers symptoms. She was standing there defending this beast who uses his size to intimidate. Had he done that to my daughter, his basketball career would have been over, because if the courts didnt take care of him, I would have made sure that somebody else did.
      He deserved every day given him. Had he made it to pro ball, he would have been a poor example for any team that recruited him, and a bad influence for aspiring players. I’m sure that all of the people posting on here would have a different take if that were their own daughters that were being brutally terrorized in her apartment building.

    • Truthteller

      *thats batterred womans symptoms….that is what that young girl has

    • man

      you are exactly right there !!!

  • Nikolos Newbrey

    LMAO!! REALITY – YOU AINT SUCH A BADBOY NOW HOMIE!!F*CK THIS PIECE OF SCUM. YOU DONT DISRESPECT, HARM, ROB AND KIDNAP ANYONE!!NONETHELESS A FEMALE, COME ON NOW!!

  • Guest

    Mimi you’re a dumbass, she gave him the maximum sentence for this shit because she felt like it. Sure wat he did was wrong and I’m not saying there should should be no punishment however, she only did this to prove she has power and has the ability to ruin a bright future like the kid this one has. It was an ego trip. He didn’t have to go to jail for 3 years, she completely screwed him for her own amusement. You can tell she has no heart, the kid fainted and her response was “I’m not finished.” If the kid wasn’t a good person at heart, the girl who assaulted him wouldn’t have voluntarily stepped forward to say “Do not send him to jail” or the coach. Think before you speak. Also good to know you’d do worse to your own kids that what could happen in a prison, parenting of the year award, you should get some sort of medal because you’d punish your kid worse than that if your sun ever did that.

    • Guest

      Son*

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_AGIMZ7MMGB6JK5BQ7BQTWZPLWU ZaidiB

      His girl friend was on the gravy train too; which is why she testified on his behalf. Because of his behavior, they all lose.

  • Alphonsus Liguori

    His
    reaction, along with those of his family/friends, is interesting from a
    Platonic point of view. Plato (via Socrates) said: A guilty man should seek
    punishment, not run from it. His soul needs purgation. The worst thing
    that can happen to a criminal/scoundrel is to never get caught. He also
    said: It is better to suffer injustice than to do injustice. The soul
    isn’t polluted by suffering injustice, but by doing injustice.

    Thus those who really love him should have been applauding this punishment.

    Did any of this occur to those weeping for him?

    • Truthteller

      they were weeping for the money they were now not going to get….nobody was concerned about his horrible character

    • ant

      Good point

  • Truthteller

    Another Ochocinco and idiots want to defend him……..whatever

  • Liah

    This is so sad. Such a bright future. If he gets 3 years then what does Chad Ochocinco get? What is simple is to just walk away from these arguments or end the relationship if its not going well– life is way too short.

  • ReddNuOne

    Ummm well i guess i have no heart either because if you still sending threating messages to the victim like a dumbass after you already in trouble for attacking her, then he deserved those 3 years … straight like that

  • ReddNuOne

    and what are these comments of the judge robbing him of his future … we are all as human beings responsible for our decisions we make in life . Now you just seen what happen in situations like Chris Brown and others who are going through the same ordeal but yet you attack her when she is clearly scared … then to kick her with your “Big Foot” ass feet come on dude seriously … i honestly think that some people on here thinks that just because the judge was white and this jackass of a man was black … but lets stop focusing on skin color and think about what he did

  • http://www.facebook.com/natural.clark Natural Clark

    Please he robbed himself and ruined his own future!! I’m sure no1 put a gun 2 his head…. Consequences come with dumb ass actions the end!!

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