900-Pound Defendant Asks Help Getting to Court

A Virginia judge has approved a logistical plan to bring a defendant who weighs more than 900 pounds to federal court in Richmond. The effort could involve cutting down trees, cutting through a wall in the building where the man lives and bracing the structure, the Times-Dispatch reports. A device to lift the man might be required, the plan says. The FBI, the US Marshals Service, the Richmond Ambulance Authority, the Henrico County Division of Fire, and state and local emergency personnel are involved. The goal is to transport the man safely to the loading dock of the courthouse, possibly on a gurney.

Kenneth T. Hicks, 48, was allowed to make an earlier court appearance in his cocaine conspiracy case on a video hookup. He then asked the court's help in bringing him in to plead guilty in person, per the Times-Dispatch. His lawyer and prosecutors asked for a transportation plan that would protect his health and dignity. Hicks was told that he would be taken into custody and placed in a secure medical facility once he pleaded guilty. (Study warns millennials about cancer linked to obesity.)