If the defendant does not post bail, he is held in the Orange County Jail until his next court date. Unlawful imprisonment in the first degree is a class E felony the maximum possible prison sentence is 4 years.Jail should be avoided if at all possible. Usually what happens is that when you are sentenced, you are immediately placed in custody and taken to jail. NJ False Imprisonment Lawyer. For a first offender, a conviction for this offense can carry up to 1 to 3 years in state prison. Probation is also an alternative sentence. If a person is convicted of this offense, they may be sentenced to the statutory maximum of five (5) years in prison. The punishment for infractions is usually a fine, and if the defendant pays the fine, there is no jail time. To challenge their conviction and subsequent incarceration, many people spend years in and out of the judicial system.