Cincinnati mayor, prosecutor ask governor to commute Tracie Hunter’s prison sentence

CINCINNATI, Ohio (FOX19) - Two local officials have asked Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to commute the sentence of former judge Tracie Hunter.

Judge Patrick Dinkelacker sentenced the former Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge to six months minus one day in the Hamilton County Justice Center early Monday. Hunter was also given one year of community control.

Chaos broke out while the sentence was being read -- Hunter went limp and had to be dragged from the courtroom.

After the sentencing, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters and Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley reached out to Gov. DeWine to ask that he consider commuting Hunter’s sentence.

The governor’s office says it can’t consider commutation until the defendant applies for it and so far they have not heard from Hunter’s legal team.

VIDEO | Chaos in the courtroom as former judge Tracie Hunter sentenced to 6 months in jail

In court Monday morning, Judge Dinkelacker read a letter from Deters that stated Hunter has “never once shown remorse” and he “believes she has some sort of medical condition."

Mayor Cranley also sent a letter to Judge Dinkelacker prior to sentencing, which the judge referred to in court Monday. He asked the judge not to place Hunter in prison, claiming she had been punished enough.

Last week, an appeals court rejected Hunter’s request for a stay, returning the case to Hamilton County.

Hunter was convicted in 2014 of unlawful interest in a public contract, a felony. She was accused of giving confidential records to her brother, a juvenile court employee who was in the process of being fired.