Check Forger Gets 25 Years to Life Under ‘3 Strikes’ Law : Courts: Case is likely to fuel more debate over tough new measure. ‘I’m not writing law, I’m enforcing it,’ judge says.

In a case likely to fuel further debate over the controversial “three strikes” law, a 30-year-old Los Angeles man was sentenced this week to 25 years to life in state prison for trying to pass a forged check.

Michael Leon James, a career criminal who has spent much of his adult life behind bars, wept openly after hearing the sentence imposed Tuesday by Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Leslie W. Light.

The sentence was condemned as “ridiculous” by James’ public defender, who said that his client does not pose a threat to society.

Light defended his ruling as an attempt to follow the law.

“It’s not the way I’d write (criminal sentencing) legislation, but I’m not writing law, I’m enforcing it,” the judge said in an interview.

The “three strikes” law, signed in March by Gov. Pete Wilson, requires a sentence of 25 years to life for any defendant who has previously been convicted of two violent or serious felonies. James had been convicted of six felonies dating back to 1982, including two burglaries, two auto thefts and one count of assaulting a police officer.

His most recent run-in with the law occurred June 23, when he was arrested at a Culver City supermarket on suspicion of attempting to write a forged check and carrying a fake driver’s license. He was caught when store employees suspected that his identification was bogus.

A jury convicted James of the two charges in October. Because of his felony convictions, he was eligible for sentencing under the new law.

“The hardest-hearted conservative who voted for (the law) would have been moved by the sight of this man reduced to a sobbing blob of humanity (after the sentencing),” said Deputy Public Defender Charles Cervantes, who represented James.

James is the latest on a growing list of defendants facing hefty jail time for nonviolent offenses. Earlier this year, Jerry Dewayne Williams was facing 25 years to life for allegedly stealing a slice of pepperoni pizza from four youngsters in Redondo Beach.

Legal experts say that soaring prison costs will eventually force the public to reconsider the law.

“We lack the resources to put away all repeat offenders for the rest of their lives,” said Peter Arenella, a UCLA law professor and former criminal defense attorney. “That is something Californians will have to come to grips with in the very near future.”

Times correspondent Lorenza Munoz contributed to this story.