I thought you only meant a "suspended sentence"?!!!

There was nothing tame about the Wild West in the early days. Given that the Wild West was far from civilization, you didn't have court houses or the proper legal infrastructure to enforce the law. Cattle rustlers and other criminals must have had a field day doing what came to them naturally. But the towns folk would have none of that and literally took justice into their own hands and formed vigilante committees. Woe to anyone foolhardy enough to disturb the "peace" and have the misfortune of getting caught. If there weren't already a gallow erected then a "hanging tree" or a telegraph pole would make do.

(Wargames Foundry Old West Figures designed by Mark Copplestone)