An accused thief in New Orleans is facing 20 years to life in prison for shoplifting $31 worth of candy bars, and his attorneys are saying the punishment goes too far.
Advertisement
Orleans Parish prosecutors chose to charge Jacobia Grimes, 34, under a statute that boosts the alleged candy theft to a felony.
Grimes, who has 10 theft arrests since 2001, would be eligible for that sentence under Louisiana’s multiple-offender law.
Grimes is a multiple offender, with five prior convictions for theft, but many of these cases resulted in suspended sentences.
While the potential sentence may seem extreme, Grimes’ attorney, Michael Kennedy, understands the district attorney is simply following the law. Criminal District Court Judge Franz Zibilich asked, who was overseeing Grimes’ arraignment last week.
Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.
According to his lawyer, those five previous convictions totalled less than $500 for incidents at Rite-Aid, Sav-A-Center, Blockbuster Video and Rouses stores. In other states, individuals convicted of similar crimes “would have received a much shorter sentence or no jail time at all”. “Twenty years to life for a Snickers bar, or two or three or four”, the judge said.
“It’s not even amusing”, the judge added. In the last one for which Grimes pleaded guilty – accepting a four-year sentence in 2010 as a double offender – he relieved a Dollar General of some socks and pants, Swanson said.
It costs more than $18,000 to house a state prisoner in Louisiana for a year.
“We always face this dilemma”, Kevin Kane of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy told the Advocate.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office refused to discuss the specifics of the case but said Grimes” alleged theft was a “felony offense’.
Attorney Kennedy revealed that Grimes only has a ninth-grade education and is addicted to heroin.
Grimes’ past convictions also include intent to sell fake drugs and obscenity while he was behind bars.
Records do not specify what type of candy Grimes pocketed.
Advertisement
He is due in court next Wednesday.
