A bankruptcy petition preparer was ordered on Tuesday to serve nearly four years in prison for criminal contempt in a case that brought Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes to the witness stand, the Detroit News reported yesterday. Inkster, Mich., resident Derrick Hills, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox to serve 46 months after being convicted by a jury in September of five counts of criminal contempt following a five-day trial in federal court in Detroit. Hills violated five court orders from Judge Rhodes barring him from assisting in personal bankruptcy filings. Hills was facing any number of years in federal prison, since the charge has no statutory maximum penalty.
