Students at Sandy Creek High

School will soon find out what happens when you break the law and test

the temper of a judge.

The jail mug shot of a fellow

classmate is on a flier that will be posted at the school in the near

future. The flier will explain that Richard L. Roberts was jailed after

being convicted of reckless driving and two counts of laying drag, which

occurred on the school campus back in October.

The flier was mandated in Roberts's

sentence by State Court Judge Fletcher Sams. Roberts also received a 24-hour

jail term, an $800 fine, and 12 months on probation. He must serve 40

hours community service, attend a character development course and a DUI/defensive

driving course.

Judge Sams told Roberts he

hopes the flier helps "to deter you and others from doing this again."

The reckless driving conviction

automatically means that Roberts's license is suspended for six months,

thanks to Georgia's Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act, passed

in 1997.

Roberts attempted to defend

himself in a bench trial before Judge Sams last month. He claimed that

his tires squealed because he was still learning to operate his truck's

manual transmission.

"I was nervous," he said. "It

was my first time driving a stick. It started rolling back and I put too

much gas on it. ... I was scared I'd hit the car behind me."

Roberts's claims came followed

testimony from a Fayette County Sheriff's Deputy who witnessed the incident

and tried to chase Roberts down seconds later. Dep. Anthony Rhodes said

he reached around 80 mph but still was unable to catch Roberts. Dep. Rhodes

was flagged down by a motorist moments later who had been run off the

road by a truck matching the description of Roberts's vehicle, he testified.

The student later said he wasn't

aware Rhodes was pursuing him, although Rhodes said his blue lights and

siren were activated at the time. Roberts contended that he wasn't speeding

as he left the area, however, going "maybe 40" (mph), by his estimate.

Two school administrators also

testified that they witnessed him squealing off on another occasion after

he wasn't supposed to be on campus.

Roberts claimed the vehicle

they saw wasn't his. This was after he admitted to being on campus when

he wasn't supposed to be, so he could turn in an assignment.

Judge Sams didn't buy Roberts's

story. While sentencing the student, he chastised the young man for lying

to the court.

"I don't believe you," Sams

said, adding that he still remembers learning to drive a truck with a

manual transmission.

Roberts begged to keep his

license so he could continue working and training to get an athletic scholarship

to college. One slip-up during probation, and Roberts could spend the

rest of his probated sentence in jail, Sams reminded him.

"I pray that I don't see you

again on anything similar to this," Sams said when handing down the sentence.

"I promise you I won't have near as much patience as I have had today."