Pennington Gets Suspended Term

John Pennington '68-4, national secretary of SDS, faces a three-month suspended sentence and a year on probation on charges stemming from disruptions at the Cheyney Ryan trial of October 30.

The sentence-for disorderly conduct and contempt of court-was handed down yesterday by Judge Haven Parker after a 20-minute hearing at the Middle-sex County Third District Court.

The defendant pleaded guilty on both charges. There was only one witness in the hearing. Cambridge Police Captain Joseph Cusack testified that he felt Pennington had used "loud words" and caused a disturbance in the courtroom at the end of the Ryan trial.

Who Paid You?

Cusack also testified that the defendant at one point in the confusion had screamed, "who paid you" at him.

Handing down the sentence, Parker said that he felt that Pennington, being a senior in college, was old enough to understand that the rules against disruptions were there to give both sides chances to give their cases.

Several principals involved in the case indicated that they were pleased with its outcome. It had been feared that Pennington might receive the most severe sentence of the four arrested in the Ryan trial disruptions, because he was regarded as a central ague in the events of that day.