The only defendant to stand trial in the long-running North Star case has been sentenced to a year in jail.
A former counselor in the wilderness therapy program, Craig Fisher, was ordered Thursday to spend time in the Garfield County Jail for his role in the 1994 death of Aaron Bacon, 16, of Phoenix.Former co-defendants, including the owners of North Star, pleaded guilty this fall to lesser charges of negligent homicide. They were sentenced to extensive community service, but no jail time.
Fisher was convicted last month of third-degree felony abuse or neglect of a disabled child. He was sentenced by 6th District Judge K.L. McIff.
Bacon's parents had enrolled the youth in North Star to help him overcome a drug program.
Within a month, Bacon had died of ulcers that erupted in his intestinal tract during several days of hiking, survival-style, in the arid, rugged reaches of the Escalante River canyon country in southern Utah.
Prosecutors contended during the trial that Fisher, then 19, was directly responsible for withholding food and shelter, which contributed to Bacon's death.
The case gained national attention after it was profiled in newspapers, magazines and on television news programs.
McIff sentenced Fisher to 36 months of probation. As part of that probation, he was ordered to serve one year in the Garfield County Jail, serve 750 hours of community service and pay Garfield County $2,400 for a share of his legal defense.
Fisher was ordered to report to the Garfield County Jail on Dec. 27.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Robert Parrish, who prosecuted the case, said he was pleased that at least one of the defendants will do jail time.
"Our recommendation before for the other defendants was that they serve some jail time as well," he said. "We were a little concerned that none of them did."
Parrish said there were reasons Fisher was treated differently.
"Not only did he not admit his guilt and take the case to trial, but he was really the focus of the mistreatment that Aaron suffered in the program," he said.
Parrish said he spoke with Bacon's family after the sentencing. "I think they feel that justice has been served, and I think that is going to help them quite a bit," he said.