(AP) — A Lincoln judge has refused to send a newly convicted felon to the Nebraska Work Ethic Camp because all the man would learn there is “how to be a criminal.”

Judge Steve Burns made the remarks on Thursday during the sentencing of 24-year-old Brett Dovell. Dovell had pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, his first felony conviction.

His lawyer said Dovell was hoping the judge would give him probation and rehabilitation services at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook.

But Burns said people he’s sent to the camp end up violating probation after having problems with inmates housed there instead of in a state prison.

He says the only thing the probationers learn there “is how to be a criminal.”