Long after Friday's sentencing of Denny Hecker to 10 years in prison, U.S. Chief Judge Michael J. Davis will be the one remembered for first throwing the former auto magnate in jail, where he has sat since October.
Some crooks make a handsome living dipping their hands into the pockets of individuals. Then there are the more ambitious ones like Hecker, who try to con the system.
In family court, Hecker tried to hide assets from his soon-to-be ex-wife. In bankruptcy court, he withheld or altered documents and lied to the court. That led to criminal charges.
A scary prospect for Hecker, the father of four? Not apparently, given how he kept finding and spending new sources of cash even after pleading poverty and being assigned court-appointed attorneys.
By Oct. 18, it seemed Davis had decided he'd had enough.
The hearing was supposed to be routine. Hecker had already pleaded guilty to two counts of bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy, and now he wanted permission to hire Bill Mauzy to represent him for his sentencing.
Instead, he found himself in the cross-hairs of a judge bent on getting some answers.
"This is not a game that we're playing here," Davis said to one of Hecker's court-appointed attorneys. "You're coming to me saying that he doesn't have any funds and I'm supposed to just accept that as a fact and then knowing that he has a history of avoiding and lying or at least misrepresenting the fact and having funds that he's been using."