Judge imposes stricter punishment

A Spokane County Superior Court judge rejected a sentencing proposal for a man who returned to jail just weeks after promising to “make better decisions.” Judge Kathleen O’Connor on Wednesday sentenced Michael R. “Mikey Mike” Gardner, 24, to six months in jail instead of the proposed credit for time already served. Gardner pleaded guilty to two counts of riot in a plea deal that dismissed original charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and first-degree burglary. Spokane police arrested Gardner after two men were stabbed early Jan. 30. Less than two weeks earlier, he was sentenced to time served for third-degree assault; he told the judge he would make “better decisions” and “move forward with my life, get school taken care of and be a parent.”