Gerald thought it would be funny to trick his coworker, who's allergic to peanuts, into eating a peanut butter cookie. When his coworker goes into anaphylactic shock and is taken to the hospital, Gerald is arrested. The judge sentences Gerald to 3 months for assault and 2 years for poisoning, then extends his sentence by 1/3 since this is Gerald's third offense. How many months does Gerald spend in jail? Give me reasons, before answering the question
First convert the 2 - year sentence to months: 2 years * 12 months / year = 24 months. Then add the 3 months for assault: 24 months + 3 months = 27 months. Then find how long the 1 / 3 extension is: 27 months / 3 = 9 months. Finally, add up the three lengths of time to find the total sentence length: 27 months + 9 months = 36 months. So the final answer is 36.