Man Faces Sentence of 20 Years to Life for Stealing $31 Worth of Candy Bars
The case of a Louisiana man who served four years in prison for stealing socks and trousers in 2010, and now faces a sentence of 20 years to life after stealing $31 worth of candy, had even the judge overseeing his recent arraignment protesting.
"Isn't this a little over the top?," Judge Franz Zibilich said as Jacobia Grimes, 34, stood before him facing a controversial statute that New Orleans Parish Prosecutors selected to charge him under. "Twenty years to life for a Snickers bar, or two or three or four."
Under the state's habitual-offender law, a third conviction of "theft of goods" elevates the crime to a felony. Grimes faces the charge as a "quad" offender, having pled guilty to five prior offenses, including shoplifting attempts at Rite-Aid, Save-A-Center and Blockbuster Video. Criminal justice reform advocates have been fighting to bring attention to Louisiana's habitual-offender laws, which are regarded as some of the toughest in the nation.
"They're spending their time to lock someone up for years over $31 worth of candy," said attorney Miles Swanson, who along with another one of Grimes' lawyers, believes he could have been charged under a different statute. According to Swanson, all of the thefts together do not amount to $500 worth of items.
"Isn't this a little over the top?," Judge Franz Zibilich said as Jacobia Grimes, 34, stood before him facing a controversial statute that New Orleans Parish Prosecutors selected to charge him under. "Twenty years to life for a Snickers bar, or two or three or four."
Under the state's habitual-offender law, a third conviction of "theft of goods" elevates the crime to a felony. Grimes faces the charge as a "quad" offender, having pled guilty to five prior offenses, including shoplifting attempts at Rite-Aid, Save-A-Center and Blockbuster Video. Criminal justice reform advocates have been fighting to bring attention to Louisiana's habitual-offender laws, which are regarded as some of the toughest in the nation.
"They're spending their time to lock someone up for years over $31 worth of candy," said attorney Miles Swanson, who along with another one of Grimes' lawyers, believes he could have been charged under a different statute. According to Swanson, all of the thefts together do not amount to $500 worth of items.
