Woman who planted gun in Magnolia ISD student's backpack released from prison

MONTGOMERY COUNTY -- A woman who was sentenced last October by a Montgomery County district court judge to three years in prison for planting a gun inside a junior high school student's backpack and anonymously reporting him to the school was released Monday and ordered to serve a seven-year probation sentence instead.

Heather Hodges, now 29, was granted shock probation, which is designed to introduce young offenders to the long-term realities of a criminal career through a short-term visit to prison.

Judge Kelly Case handed down a three-year prison sentence Oct. 30, 2014, after Hodges pleaded guilty to unlawful carrying of a weapon on restricted premises in exchange for the dismissal of two lesser charges.

Hodges was held at the Lucile Plane state jail in Dayton for only three weeks, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 18. Prior to being sent to the Dayton facility, she was at the Montgomery County Jail since her Oct. 30 sentencing.

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