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In "Caretaker", we learn that Captain Janeway had struck a deal with the Federation Rehabilitation Commission, thereby granting Tom Paris observer status on Voyager for the mission to find Tuvok in the Badlands. Up until this point, Paris had been an inmate at the Federation Penal Colony in New Zealand, serving time for aiding the Maquis.

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How long was his sentence?

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  • 2
    Huh. I wonder if he went straight back to prison after they made it back to earth? Jul 7, 2020 at 14:19
  • 3
    @PaulD.Waite : Likely so, and mostly because of this episode.
    – Praxis
    Jul 7, 2020 at 16:23

2 Answers 2

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"Non Sequitur" (season 2, episode 5):

Harry kim is reviewing the altered crew manifest of Voyager and notices that Tom Paris is not on it. He accesses records and reads that Tom was sentenced to 18 months in a Federation penal colony and paroled on stardate 48702.

So I assume the sentence was in fact 18 months.

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    Although not necessarily 100% accurate (since it's an altered manifest and we can't be certain of other influences) this is the closest we get to a canon answer AFAIK
    – Jon Story
    Jan 15, 2016 at 11:43
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According to Memory Alpha:

Tom Paris served eighteen months in the New Zealand Settlement until he was granted release and assigned to the USS Voyager as an observer, by permission of Captain Kathryn Janeway.

I haven't found distinct dates but we know he was out by 2371 (year one of Voyager) and he was still in Starfleet Academy in the 2360s (again, there's no distinct graduation date). He then had time to crash a ship, killing some of the crew, fake reports, let guilt get to him, and finally turn himself in. Then he was kicked out, ended up with the Maquis, and finally caught and ended up in the penal colony. So in a maximum of ten years, he did all of this!

After continuing my search I have not been able to find an actual length of sentencing. When Janeway talks to him she states that, at his next review hearing, they will put in a good word. It could appear that his sentence is "until he is deemed rehabilitated", which of course would be the optimal goal of "jails" in the post scarcity Federation society.

Upon further reading, I found that Bashir's father was sentenced to two years for genetically enhancing his son, which in the post-Khan society is close to if not equivalent to treason from the way it's discussed.

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  • Good information! But I'm wondering about the length of his sentence not the time he served.
    – Praxis
    Jan 15, 2016 at 3:28
  • @Praxis still working!
    – Himarm
    Jan 15, 2016 at 3:40
  • Okay, cool. :-)
    – Praxis
    Jan 15, 2016 at 3:42
  • @Praxis i have this weird feeling that if its mentioned its gana be in a random episode now that ive skimmed through ep 1
    – Himarm
    Jan 15, 2016 at 3:44
  • I like the analogy with Bashir's father --- you can base a speculation around this.
    – Praxis
    Jan 15, 2016 at 3:51

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