Friday, March 26, 2010

6:59 AM - No comments

It’s SO Good, They’re Breaking Back… IN?

Bread and water. Chain gangs. Small, cramped cells with no privacy. Boredom. Tight metal bracelets. Very fashionable, brightly colored clothing. What do you think of when you think about jail or prison?

As hard as this is to believe… and with my right hand raised… I have never been incarcerated. Or even had to be handcuffed. (At least not by law enforcement… but there was this ONE time… at band camp… well, never mind).

No, I’ve always thought that jail or prison was not some place I ever felt the need to visit. I always tried to live the life of a law abiding citizen. And if I went out, I always tried to ensure that a “patsy” went along that I could blame everything on. So as you read this, think back about your life. If you and I ever went out to eat, have a beer, went to a concert… anything… and it was just the two of us, YOU were the patsy. I just couldn’t picture myself in the “BIG” house.

I’ve come to learn that not everyone has my same thought method. (Aren’t you glad)? And one of those people is Sylvester Jiles in Viera, Florida. It seems Mr. Jiles is comfortable in prison. He felt safe there. He felt SO safe in fact that, after being released from Brevard County Detention Center, he was rearrested after being charged with attempted breaking and entering… of the BREVARD COUNTY DETENTION CENTER!!

HELLO!!

It seems Mr. Jiles tried to climb a 12-foot fence at the Brevard County Detention Center in August. He was caught and hospitalized with severe cuts from the barbed wire. He had been released just a week earlier after accepting a plea deal on a manslaughter charge.

He was convicted in January of trespassing on jail property and resisting an officer. And this past Monday, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating his probation by trying to break BACK into the Brevard County jail.

During his earlier stay, it seems Mr. Jiles had begged jail officials to take him back into custody, saying he feared retaliation from the victim's family. Jail officials said they couldn't take him in and told him to file a police report.

SO they did exactly what he wanted… they gave him 15 more years of security. Free room, board, recreation, food, medical care… What a novel idea. He was scared to get out because the victim’s family might get him.

I guess he’s lucky I wasn’t the judge. I would have given the victim’s family that opportunity.

And that’s MY take.

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