A common practice in our county court is for judges to tell defendants what they are likely to sentence them to if they go to trial and lose, vs. what they'd get if they copped a plea. Today a judge told a defendant in an underage-sex sting operated by the sheriff's department that she'd sentence him to 60-75 years if he went to trial and lost, but would give him time served (275 days) and 3 years probation if he pleaded out.

That strikes me as coercion, plain and simple.