Punished for Doing The Right Thing
by Jeffrey A. Solochek
Back in May of this year my son, Jacob, had to return an item he bought from Radio Shack that didn't work properly. Jacob did not have a drivers license so he asked his friend, Andy, for a ride. Another kid asked Andy if he could tag along for the ride. While Jacob was filling out forms to return the item he had bought, this kid, Jared, stole two cell phones. After Jacob had gotten his money back while they were on their way back home he found out what Jared had done. Jacob then contacted the Head of security of Radio Shack on his own and arranged to get them back the phones.
Fast forward 6 months, my wife and I and Jacob had moved to Georgia where life would be more comfortable and less costly, Jacob was finishing his High School and then had plans to enter Americorps after he graduated. We all of a sudden receive a summons in the mail that the State of Florida has filed Grand Theft charges against Jacob. Just to appear in Florida for court would have cost us at least $500 per trip and I am on Disability. We were able to arrange to do the thing completely by phone. In the police report it says that Jacob was the one to return the phones but the state of Florida is still chosen to prosecute him.
In the state of Florida you are still considered a juvenile until you are 19 years of age. The Judge told us that if the case doesn't get settled soon that the prosecutor will move it into adult court. Because of this Jacob has to wait on living until this case is over, in the meantime it shows that he is being prosecuted for 2 counts of Grand Theft because 2 phones were originally stolen. Americorp now may never let him join and this will make him fail all background checks.
To hire an attorney for this would cost at least $10,000 and could go as high as $50,000. We are on a budget so we had no choice but to get a public defender. Jacob is very upset over this entire ordeal and truth be told the only lesson he is learning right now is to keep your mouth shut, never do the right thing.
What has this country come to. The United States has a greater number of citizens being prosecuted that any other place in the world yet there are other countries with a much greater population. The reason the authorities have such a large prosecution percentage is because they let these cases go on and on forever until finally, the person being prosecuted, is in a hurry to end this ordeal and they are forced to cop a plea.
No wonder there are so many innocent people in our jails and prisons. There needs to be greater punishment for the prosecutors and police when they wrongfully prosecute someone and they end up losing part of their lives. I can remember awhile back a story about 2 kids who had to do 30 years in a state prison for rape. After 30 years it was found out that they were completely innocent. The state offered them the measly sum of $30,000 each. $30,000 for taking away life that cannot be replaced. These kids had pending college scholarships when they were first accused of this crime, now what has become of them. Were they able to get back the 30 years that they had to spend in prison?
About The Author
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