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Chef Gambles Away Freedom

"The first earned Cagle awards as a chef and jobs pulling down $70,000 a year. The second became an addiction that cost him jobs, savings and, on Monday, his freedom.

"As Cagle, 37, of Waukesha described it in court Monday, he "bottomed out" June 1, the day he robbed a Waukesha gas station clerk at knifepoint.

"…He was $20,000 in debt, gambling four times a week and blowing $1,800 a month at casinos in Wisconsin and Illinois, according to court records.

"In what a judge called a `sophomoric' robbery, Cagle grabbed money from the clerk, who managed to run outside and yell out Cagle's license plate numbers.

"…Circuit Judge Mark Gempeler opted against recommendations by a prosecutor and a state corrections official that Cagle go to prison for his armed robbery conviction. He faced a maximum penalty of 40 years behind bars.

"Gempeler ordered Cagle to serve one year in the county's work-release jail and 15 years on probation. The judge also ordered him to pay $3,925 in restitution to BP Gas Station.

"…Gempeler said he was swayed by Cagle's expressions of remorse and his need for treatment - therapy that a counselor said is not available in the state's prison system…"

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