Obese N.Y. man trucked to court hearing

AUBURN, N.Y., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A New York man estimated to weigh 700 pounds was trucked from his home to court to be arraigned on drug charges.

The Cayuga County Circuit Court judge and his staff held court on a Post Office loading dock to arraign Stephon A. Turo, 56, of Genoa on 24 counts of sale and possession of prescription painkillers, The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard reported Monday.

Turo sat on a chair connected to a portable oxygen machine and covered with a blanket in the back of a rental truck in 18-degree temperatures and swirling snow while Judge Thomas G. Leone took his innocent plea and set bail at $1,000 during a 15-minute hearing.

Turo was fingerprinted and had his "mug" shot taken by a sheriff's investigator while in the truck.

If convicted, Turo could be imprisoned for 25 years, which state Corrections Department spokesman Erik Kriss said would make him the heaviest state prison inmate ever.

"Thank you, your honor, for coming down," Turo, who hadn't been out of his home for several years, told the judge as the arraignment ended.

The judge said Turo needed to be present for his arraignment but he would not go to the suspect's home to hold the hearing.

"That's a dangerous precedent to set,' Leone said.

His wife Claudette was arraigned last week on a 17-count indictment listing similar charges.