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A former Provo judge is in jail, after he was sentenced today on misdemeanor drug charges.
Ray Harding, Jr. pleaded guilty last month to using heroin and cocaine and finally resigned from the bench after nine months of fighting the charges.
Ray Harding was sentenced to spend the next four months here in jail.
Ray Harding Jr. walked into court all smiles this morning, but inside the courtroom, he found himself on the wrong side of the bench.
Harding, who says he has been clean and sober since his arrest last July, asked to be spared jail time and expressed extreme remorse for his actions.
But in a lengthy lecture, Third District Judge Timothy Hanson lashed out at Harding telling him he "breached a sacred trust between judges and the public."
"You have disgraced the judiciary" Hanson told Harding and said everything Harding did as a judge is now in question.
Hanson also questioned Harding's remorse, saying it took impeachment proceedings from the State Legislature before Harding resigned from the bench, all the while collecting his judge's salary.
Hanson ordered Harding to spend 120 days in jail, pay nine thousand dollars in fines and give 500 hours of community service.
Harding was immediately handcuffed and taken to jail.
"Ed Brass/Defense Attorney: IT WASN'T A SURPRISE TO HIM, HE KNEW IT WAS LIKELY HE WOULD GET SOME JAIL SENTENCE OUT OF THIS."
Several Harding supporters, themselves part of his drug recovery group filled the courtroom.
They claim the former judge received too harsh of a sentence for a first time offender.
"Charles Hughes/Harding Supporter: "JUDGE RAY GOT 120 DAYS, JUST BECAUSE HE WAS A JUDGE. THE MAN IS NO DIFFERENT FROM ME OR ANYBODY ELSE"
Blaine Tracy/Harding Supporter: "I'VE BEEN AN ADDICT FOR 18 YEARS OF MY LIFE, TODAY I AM CLEAN AND SOBER LARGELY BECAUSE OF JUDGE HARDING."
When Harding gets out of jail at the end of August, he faces the possibility of losing his law license.
Ray Harding also faces felony poaching charges, for allegedly killing a moose while he was still serving as a judge. That case will be in court next month.
