During its time on tv, King of the Hill has shown a wide array of characters that
are both on the straight and narrow and…morally compromised at best. Even characters that have
established themselves as being upstanding citizens have strayed and broken the law.
The crimes shown in the series range from honest misunderstandings to
causing others great bodily harm… Leaving us to wonder who would get
off easy facing the consequences and who would be ruining their own lives.
I’m Caleb with WickedBinge and this is Sentencing King of the Hill Characters for Their Crimes
Today, we’ll be looking at individual instances of crimes - typically linked to one episode arc.
We’ll also be looking at what the potential penalties would be for
these crime under contemporary law; specifically in Texas.
First on the docket is John Redcorn - for his actions in the episode Redcorn Gambling
with His Future. His endeavor of taking on using his land for Indian gambling came up
after he was unable to find a place to book his band Big Mountain Fudgecake.
Unfortunately for John Redcorn, he didn’t manage to make any sort of profit despite
drawing a ton of attention opening night. The police immediately came to shut it down and
informed Redcorn that the whole operation with the goal to gamble with money was prohibited.
With Indian gambling not being permitted in Texas, John Redcorn could have faced up to
a year in prison on the charge of a misdemeanor; but because of how unsuccessful the venture was,
he’d likely jus be hit with a fine as large as four grand.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: ILLEGAL GAMBLING
SENTENCE: 1 Year in Prison and/or a Fine Up To $4,000
Next up, let’s talk about the show’s hero, Hank. Hank is fairly straight-laced for much of the
series, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t made any mistakes. One of the worst of these included an
early episode in which Hank was desperately seeking out a new bait to try for fishing.
After botching the directions given to him by a trusted friend,
Hank wound up in a seedy part of Arlen buying what wound up being crack. Oddly enough,
the drug did end up doing the trick and got Hank a ton of fish. However that didn’t excuse
the fact that Hank had still purchased and possessed a controlled substance.
Considering Hank hadn’t been charged with any major crimes prior to this sentence and
hadn’t used the drugs on himself, it would likely be charged as a Class A misdemeanor,
meaning Hank would get a sentence of 180 days in jail and/or a $4000 charge.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
SENTENCE: 180 Days in Jail and/or a $4,000 Fine.
That said, given the fact he was able to prove
the misunderstanding - it’s likely that he would be found Not Guilty.
Following her husband is Peggy. Now Peggy has done far shadier than Hank throughout the series. She’s
lied to people, assaulted people, and has been known to be a danger to those around her while her
ego convinced her she was always in the right. But for this listing, we’ll be referencing the episode
Lupe’s Revenge, in which Peggy wound up kidnapping a child from Mexico during a field trip.
To give Peggy some credit, she did make an honest mistake. A mistake that could have been completely
prevented had she bothered to properly learn Spanish, but…still. And she did try to get Lupe to
contact her mother. It wasn’t really Peggy’s fault that Lupe’s family didn’t have a phone to call.
The only thing that made this whole thing worse was that in Peggy’s effort to hide her mistake,
she crammed Lupe in a small room and made her sit in the dark up until Peggy finally snuck
her back into Mexico. Poor Lupe was right to be angry and traumatized by the events.
In the episode, it ended with Peggy being found innocent due to her inability to truly
understand Spanish. However, had Peggy been found guilty, she would have been
charged with deprivation of liberty and given a sentence between 25 to 45 years.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY SENTENCE: 25 to 45 Years
One of the darkest storylines in the entire show centered around Luanne and her experience with the
Omega House. Even people who haven’t seen every episode of King of the Hill have heard
about the Janes at some point. The woman that recruited the vulnerable young girls on campus,
luring them with promises of friendship and acceptance, became one of the most terrifying
characters in the show. It was exposed that the head Jane had a tight legal hold on the house
and knew how to evade being punished. After all, she coerced the girls but there wasn’t any real
restraint or physical force on her part. Her methods of sleep deprivation and small meals
are rarely charged with any success in any court setting. Thankfully, this whole story
ended when Hank and the guys managed to help the girls break free by offering food to them,
but in the end Jane was never stopped. She was free to recruit more people for the farm.
While Luanne and the other young girls were manipulated into joining the Omega House,
that in and of itself isn’t a crime. In fact running a cult isn’t grounds
for any sort of charge. However, the head Jane of this sorority is guilty
of violating the rights granted by the first amendment of the
US Constitution. This means she could have been charged with up to ten years in prison.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC:
VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS SENTENCE: Up To 10 Years In Prison
This next section goes to the man behind Larson Pork Products: Trip Larson. Now Trip pulled a
few stunts in this storyline that included intimidation and threat of bodily harm,
but the one act that he could be clearly charged with is when he cut and dyed Luanne’s hair. This
act counts as assault and battery or even domestic abuse, as doing anything against
someone’s person is grounds to be charged. And that isn’t even going into detail with how he
clearly had the milk drugged that he ordered Luanne to drink when he sent her to bed.
Then there’s the attempted forced marriage and, of course, attempted murder. When he
decides that because Luanne doesn’t want to marry him, that they will die together.
Now Larson wound up dying at the end of the episode. Had he lived and was charged for
the attempted murder and other crimes… He’d be looking at around 25 years in prison..
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: ASSAULT AND BATTERY, ATTEMPTED MURDER
SENTENCE: 25 Years In Prison
In the second part of the murder mystery surrounding Debbie,
Buck did the unthinkable. He had been far too comfortable with throwing Hank under the bus.
Some may state that Buck’s acts in this episode can be forgiven since he thought
he was protecting Miss Liz from being sent to prison, but we have to disagree.
Hank had dedicated his entire life to Buck and had been the one to help the
Stricklands make amends. It was likely that Buck was also acting due to some
insecurities he felt from Miss Liz making advances on Hank prior to them making up.
Like some other well-off cast members of the show,
Buck doesn’t really receive any punishment for his crimes due to his status and wealth. Heck,
Buck actually confessed to planting evidence right in front of the sheriff and still didn’t
face any consequences for his actions! However, had Buck been without his money and reputation,
he would have been properly given a five year prison sentence.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE SENTENCE: 5 Years In Prison
Next up is the one time character Tammy. Now Tammy was a very sweet, though ditzy,
young woman that was just trying to find a way to improve her life when she moved
to Arlen. After she quickly formed a bond with Peggy and was revealed to be homeless,
she moved in with the Hills and worked hard to repay their kindness and save to move out
of the their home. Unfortunately that meant she had easily fallen back into what she knew from
surviving in Oklahoma City. When Hank tried to set Tammy up on dates with well off men, Tammy
took it as an opportunity to exchange sex work to some higher class clients than she had before.
Whether in Texas or Oklahoma, this would be classified as a misdemeanor. In Oklahoma,
Tammy could have faced a thirty day imprisonment or a fine as
large as 2500 dollars. Had she been turned in while in Texas,
Tammy would have risked large fines and could have been given up to two years in prison.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: PROSTITUTION
SENTENCE: Up To 2 Years in Prison and/or $2,500 Fine
Fans are well familiar with the story of why Luanne isn’t living with her parents. When
Leanne was released from prison, her reputation made everyone terrified of her. After all,
there aren’t many women that can invoke fear in people just by picking up a fork. Once she was
drinking again, her nasty side came out in full swing. She was seen terrorizing Bill,
beating him up and lashing out, eventually leading up to the blowup at the barbeque.
Seeing as Leanne had already been charged once with domestic violence, she would have easily
faced another year or two in prison if Bill or Buckley had pressed charges against her.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SENTENCE: 1-2 Years in Prison
Finally the last character on this list is Dale Gribble for his actions in the episode Vision
Quest. After believing he was Native, Dale misunderstood a dream that Joseph had. His
obsession with helping to make Joseph cool led to him taking Joseph to the zoo to kill a panda. Dale
had mistakenly believed that killing a panda would be excused with the both of them being Indigenous.
This little adventure would have gotten Dale 180 days in prison along with a 2,000 dollar
fine for the trespassing alone. Adding animal endangerment on top of it would have increased
the sentence greatly. And considering that the animal Dale was targeting was endangered,
this could have resulted in 3 Years in Prison and a 10,000 Dollar Fine.
CRIMES LISTED IN GRAPHIC: TRESPASSING AND ENDANGERED ANIMAL ENDANGERMENT.
SENTENCE: 3 Years in Prison and a $10,000 Fine
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our
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