News Photo by Julie RIddle Brenden Smith, right, listens during a sentencing hearing in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court on Monday.

ALPENA — Holding up photos of bruised children, Judge Ed Black on Monday sentenced an Alpena man to up to three years in prison for child abuse.

Brenden Smith, 26, told police a television had fallen on children under his care when relatives reported extensive bruises on the children in July.

A jury disagreed with that defense, finding Smith guilty of third-degree child abuse in February.

At Smith’s sentencing hearing in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court on Monday, defense attorney Ron Bayot said Smith maintains that the children’s injuries were caused by an accident.

“That’s an accident?” Black asked Smith, holding up photo after photo depicting the children’s bruises.

Had a falling television caused the bruises, the children would have had to roll down a hill with it, Black said.

Judges shouldn’t hand down sentences while angry, Black said, but Smith’s decision to not take responsibility for his actions made that difficult.

“What you did was not just being imperfect,” Black told Smith, “but continuing to assault these young children for nothing other than the fact that they were young children and they annoyed you at the time.”

Black sentenced Smith to 21 months to three years’ incarceration, the maximum sentence allowed under sentencing guidelines.

Also in court on Monday:

Erin Cook, 47, admitted she was along for the ride when police found methamphetamine in a vehicle driven by Darrin Clemons in December of 2020.

According to Cook, Clemons sold the drug, the proceeds of which bought the meth the two had ingested at the time of the traffic stop.

Cook on Monday lodged a guilty plea with the understanding that she will testify against Clemons if a case pending against him goes to trial.

The court will sentence Cook in June.

Bounty hunters searched for Cook and Clemons in Alabama in October after the two failed to show up for court hearings. Clemons, who pleaded not guilty to a meth delivery charge, is lodged in the Alpena County Jail.

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Robert Kowalski, 50, will spend at least six years in prison for delivery of methamphetamine and fentanyl in Alpena County in 2021.

A 78-month sentence will follow a 14-month sentence with credit for 306 days that must be served first.

Kowalski pleaded guilty in February to five counts of drug possession and delivery. The court dismissed five additional charges as part of the plea agreement.

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Deviating from a two-year sentence recommended by the Michigan Department of Corrections, Black sentenced William Gauthier, 42, to a year in the Alpena County Jail for drug possession and domestic violence charges.

Gauthier’s arrest came while he was on probation for a 2021 sentence for larceny and drug possession.

Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski recommended a one-year sentence for the current charges and that Black follow DOC recommendations for a longer sentence for the probation violation.

Black chose a one-year sentence, saying that, with many felonies and misdemeanors on his record, Gauthier can expect a long stay in prison if he returns to court for a similar violation.

“You’ve gotten every opportunity,” Black told Gauthier. “There’s no more.”