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Logan • Love, charity and compassion — hardly what one expects to find in a criminal courtroom of the 21st century. But some defendants are gleaning lessons from a character in a 19th-century novel when they're sentenced by a Cache County judge.

In Les Miserables, penned by Victor Hugo in 1862, Monsignor Beinvenue was Bishop of Digne, a man of service and charity. He was once in a position to condemn a convicted felon to more time in prison after the man, Jean Valjean, stole from him. Instead, Beinvenue intervened and not only cleared Valjean but also gave him the ability to climb out of a life of poverty.

From this act of kindness, Valjean came to realize the importance of a life given in service to others.

"It is beautiful, wonderful literature," said Judge Thomas Willmore of 1st District Court in Logan. Ordering reports on the book is a tool to help people think through their lives, he said.

Criminal sentences aim to punish, to deter future crimes by the defendant and others — and to rehabilitate, Willmore explains. He hopes reading Les Miserables and other unconventional orders help people understand not all is lost because they have committed a crime. He uses them most often for first-time offenders — especially those who seem to have given up hope.

Reggie Shaw was one such person.

On Sept. 22, 2006, while texting and driving, Shaw caused an accident that killed two people. He was convicted of negligent homicide and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

"He was beating himself up terribly," Willmore said of Shaw, who was in his mid-20s.

In 2009, Shaw wrote a 21/2-page essay for Willmore reflecting on Les Miserables.

"I did commit a crime and it is easy for me to look back now and say that maybe someone treated me with the same charity and compassion that the Bishop showed to Valjean," he wrote. "I now understand that for me to live a life in any manner other than serving others would be selfish and unjust."

Shaw is now a student in Salt Lake City.

Willmore does not believe a person can be reformed by reading, but he has seen the introspection and growth it can inspire.

Fernando Infante, who will be 20 in May, was in the Cache County Jail last year on burglary and theft charges when he was charged with stabbing another inmate, causing serious injury.

Willmore said the state did not want to see Infante go to prison at such a young age, but the violent crime left the judge few options.

Infante is now in maximum security at the Cache County Jail — under orders to read as many books as he can. Every 10 days or so, Willmore gets a progress report from him.

"I am able to see how he has grown and changed, how he applies himself to a character and sees the changes he can make in his life," Willmore said.

In a letter dated Jan. 28, 2012, after reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini, Infante reflected on people in his life who had not been a positive influence.

"Because I wasn't strong enough to resist them, I ended up losing a lot of my freedom, money and spirit," he wrote. "I've ended up burning a lot of bridges and have hurt those close to me."

Willmore will review Infante's case at the end of this month, and the teenager is hoping for his own second chance. "I feel more than ready to make up for lost time," he said, "and do what I know is right."