Prison time for religious leader

FOR THE RECORD

A headline on a story in Saturday’s Daily Pilot should have said that Piecemakers founder Marie Kolasinski received a sentence of jail time, as she was not convicted of a felony.

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Members of the Costa Mesa religious sect the Piecemakers who were convicted in 2005 of operating a restaurant without a permit and resisting inspectors, were sentenced Friday. Two received probation, while the group’s founder and leader received 10 days’ jail time as well.

Marie Kolasinski, 85, was immediately taken into custody. With time served, she will likely be there for six more days, her lawyer, Joseph Donahue, said. Kolasinski, along with co-defendants Doug Follette, 52, and Judy Haeger, 59, received three years’ probation as well.

The Piecemakers have said they do not recognize the government’s authority, only God’s. Materials on the organization’s website call for the abolition of the Orange County Health Department.

While the defendants could have faced far worse punishment, they were still less than happy about the result, Donahue said. “I sensed some of the … [distraught feelings] they had about Marie going into jail for even 5 minutes,” he said.

The three were convicted in November on charges related to an October 2005 incident when sect members blocked health inspectors and police from performing a court-ordered routine health inspection at the Piecemakers Country Store.