LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A woman who faked an anti-gay hate crime has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating probation, but she can apply to serve the time on house arrest.
Charlie Rogers, 36, of Lincoln was sentenced May 15 in Lancaster County Court, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
Rogers had faced up to a year in jail for violating her probation. In March, she acknowledged that she failed to report to jail on Jan. 15 to finish her original 90-day jail sentence.
During her sentencing, Rogers said she didn’t mean to violate the conditions of her probation.
“Please let me go home,” Rogers pleaded with the judge, choking back tears. “I was scared.”
Rogers, a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln basketball standout, was convicted of lying to police about being attacked by masked men. Rogers, who has said she’s a lesbian, said the men carved anti-gay slurs into her skin.
Rogers reported on July 12, 2012, that the men who attacked her tried to set fire to her home before leaving. A neighbor told police that Rogers crawled from her home naked, bleeding and screaming for help.
But her story quickly fell apart, and prosecutors said Rogers faked the attack because she thought it would inspire change in the treatment of gay people.
She spent seven days in jail after being convicted. Prosecutors agreed to waive a 90-day jail sentence if she completed community service, but officials say she failed to complete that service.
Instead of reporting to jail on Jan. 15, Rogers began volunteering to cover her community service, logging 200 hours between Jan. 15 and March 9.
An attorney for Rogers said she had already applied to do the jail time on house arrest. If her request is denied, she must report to jail May 29.
