Polonia Sentenced to 60 Days in Jail

Luis Polonia, New York Yankee outfielder, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and fined $1,500 Monday on the misdemeanor charge of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Thomas Doherty, Milwaukee County circuit judge, also ordered Polonia to make a $10,000 contribution to the Sinai Samaritan Medical Center’s sexual assault treatment center in Milwaukee.

Polonia, who pleaded no contest in August to the charge of having sexual intercourse with a child, will report Wednesday to begin his sentence.

Polonia probably will have work release privileges.

“I made a mistake and I’m really sorry for it,” Polonia told the judge before the sentence was imposed. “I’m a human being and anybody can make the mistake I made.”

Doherty said that although Polonia’s relationship with the girl was consensual, the purpose of the law is to protect the naive “from predators, if you will.

“Not to impose some jail sentence would diminish the significance of this incident,” Doherty said.

The judge said he hoped the sentence would send a message to young men like Polonia who travel around the country “to think twice, three or four times and then not do it.”

Polonia, who was traded from Oakland to New York during the season, could have received a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines.