What would cause an innocent woman to welcome time behind bars? According to Maria Brunner, all it takes is her "lazy" husband and "demanding" children.

Brunner's husband is unemployed, so she supports their three young children by cleaning other people's houses. Even without a job, her husband managed to run up quite a number of unpaid parking tickets. The bill totals nearly $5,000. Mr. Brunner kept the tickets a secret from his wife, but as the owner of the vehicle, she is responsible. Maria cannot pay the fine, and unless her husband can come up with the money, she will spend three months behind bars in her town of Poing, Germany.

Maria's reaction? "I've had enough of scraping a living for the family…. As long as I get food and a hot shower every day, I don't mind being sent to jail. I can finally get some rest and relaxation."

Police reported that when they went to arrest Maria, "she seemed really happy to see us. . .and repeatedly thanked us for arresting her." While most people taken into custody hide their heads in shame, Maria "smiled and waved as she was driven off to jail."