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Texas man gets 50 years in prison for stealing hundreds of pounds of fajita meat

JANFU

JANFU

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Texas man gets 50 years in prison for stealing hundreds of pounds of fajita meat | National Post

A former prison official in South Texas was sentenced last week to 50 years (FIFTY. YEARS!) in prison for stealing fajitas (fajitas?) from the state.

Here’s the thing, for first-degree felonies, including theft over $200,000, Texas doesn’t have any sentencing guidelines at all, according to Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. “We have wide open sentencing ranges,” she said. Prosecutors can ask for, and judges and juries can hand down, any sentence they like. “So the range for a first-degree felony can be anything from five to 99 years or life. Or probation,” she said. “It’s kind of a crazy system, but it’s been that way for a long time.”
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Fair sentence? Overboard? What is your opinion?
Me- 50 years is BS
 
washunut said:
according to your article he stole over $1 million. So if it was cash or gold rather than steak would that make a difference? I agree that 50 years for a non-violent crime seems excessive. That being said, he is a big time crook.
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50 years is not a fair nor a reasonable sentence.
 
From what I read they aren't sure how much he stole but the million is on the high estimate.

Well, the 800-pound shipment Escamilla was first busted for was valued between US$2,500 and US$30,000. That means the beef was retailing for between US$3.13 and US$37.5. That’s a big range. But it does mean we can definitely say that Escamilla stole between 32,000 and 383,000 pounds of fajita meat. In either case, that’s a lot of fajitas.
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This man should be in jail. He does not deserve 50 years. And this type of crap should never be allowed. This is not blind justice - this is legal ****ery.

So the range for a first-degree felony can be anything from five to 99 years or life. Or probation
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The exact same non-violent crime with no priors can get probation or 99 years.
 
JANFU said:
Texas man gets 50 years in prison for stealing hundreds of pounds of fajita meat | National Post


Fair sentence? Overboard? What is your opinion?
Me- 50 years is BS
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At first I was like..."this asshole was stealing food from kids, maybe it's somewhat worth it".
But after reading further I'm thinking "Oh, he just bought it with state funds and resold it..."

Generally speaking, I am of the opinion that any laws mandating a minimum sentence should be abolished.
I'm less sure about maximum sentence laws, if they exist.
But they clearly need some form of maximum sentence, it doesn't matter how much meat you stole, it's not worth 50 years in prison.
 
Praxas said:
Wow the article says he stole about $1.2M worth of fajita meat. In a position of authority and stealing that much? Still not worth 50 years in prison imo especially since that one affluent punk got off with probation for vehicular homocide.
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Your system is screwed with outlandish sentences. 3-5, repay, that would be sufficient.
 
washunut said:
according to your article he stole over $1 million. So if it was cash or gold rather than steak would that make a difference? I agree that 50 years for a non-violent crime seems excessive. That being said, he is a big time crook.
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At 3.99 per pound (average price per pound for ready made chicken), he would need to take over 250,000 pounds.


That's a lot of meat. One tractor trailer can haul....60, maybe 70 thousand pounds.
 
This wasn't stealing a fajita from Chipotle one day. This guy set up a business where he would steal meat and then sell it to people for a decent amount of time. The title of the article leaves that out of course for clicks. If it was something other than food would it still be ridiculous? I think if he can pay it back then he should have less of a sentence.
 
KevinKohler said:
At 3.99 per pound (average price per pound for ready made chicken), he would need to take over 250,000 pounds.


That's a lot of meat. One tractor trailer can haul....60, maybe 70 thousand pounds.
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Is it a fair and reasonable sentence? Me, I say no.
 
The Mark said:
At first I was like..."this asshole was stealing food from kids, maybe it's somewhat worth it".
But after reading further I'm thinking "Oh, he just bought it with state funds and resold it..."

Generally speaking, I am of the opinion that any laws mandating a minimum sentence should be abolished.
I'm less sure about maximum sentence laws, if they exist.
But they clearly need some form of maximum sentence, it doesn't matter how much meat you stole, it's not worth 50 years in prison.
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So it was more like fraud then?

I was gonna make a joke here but yeah... fifty years is kinda ridiculous.
 
I suppose I'm just wondering how it is that someone could steal over 4 full tractor trailers worth of....anything, let alone fajita meat?
 
He spent 10 years buying fajita meat to sell to others through the prison system. He'll likely make parole in 16 years if he stay alive as a known prison official. Make bed; lie in it.
 
JANFU said:
Your system is screwed with outlandish sentences. 3-5, repay, that would be sufficient.
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Not sure how some felon is going to repay $1.2M though. I could see maybe 10-15 as a deterrent for others not to do idiotic stuff like that but not 50.
 
KevinKohler said:
I suppose I'm just wondering how it is that someone could steal over 4 full tractor trailers worth of....anything, let alone fajita meat?
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Ordered it delivered to the state facility he worked by the contractor who provided food to said facility, paid for it with state funds, stored it in that facility's storage, then hauled it away later.

Also took place over 8 years.
 
The Mark said:
Ordered it delivered to the state facility he worked by the contractor who provided food to said facility, paid for it with state funds, stored it in that facility's storage, then hauled it away later.

Also took place over 8 years.
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So 8 years of defrauding tax payers?

I don't know. 50 years doesn't sound THAT unreasonable.
 
Praxas said:
Not sure how some felon is going to repay $1.2M though. I could see maybe 10-15 as a deterrent for others not to do idiotic stuff like that but not 50.
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Myself I think it is way to much, I seen net/phone scammers get off with a lesser sentence. Classed as victimless, which IMHO is BS. Older people have heart attacks, cannot afford their mortgages, even commit suicide. Yet they receive less, walk away with a fine. and still have millions that are unaccountable for.
The US has to address that it as a developed country has the highest incarceration rate.
 
KevinKohler said:
So 8 years of defrauding tax payers?

I don't know. 50 years doesn't sound THAT unreasonable.
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I'd consider 20 years reasonable, MAYBE.
Even that seems too high.
 
washunut said:
according to your article he stole over $1 million. So if it was cash or gold rather than steak would that make a difference? I agree that 50 years for a non-violent crime seems excessive. That being said, he is a big time crook.
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If it's billions of dollars via financial instrument shenanigans, he'd probably be somewhere between in the clear and in jail for several years.
 
KevinKohler said:
I suppose I'm just wondering how it is that someone could steal over 4 full tractor trailers worth of....anything, let alone fajita meat?
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The Lucchese crime family did it almost as routine out of JFK Airport, and if they couldn't intercept there, they just waylaid the truckers further on down the road. Their favorite spot was along the more isolated sections of NY 878, the Nassau Expressway or to divert them off the JFK Expressway and onto Rockaway Blvd., where they had numerous safe warehouses to stash their bounty no questions asked.

Four trailers? Try three or four every day for weeks at a time. Where do you think the phrase, "It sorta fell off the truck" came from? (LOL)
 
Mr Person said:
If it's billions of dollars via financial instrument shenanigans, he'd probably be somewhere between in the clear and in jail for several years.
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Last time I looked Madoff got life and I am fine with that.
 
I don’t care if it was a billion dollars in actual currency. 50 years for a first time non-violent conviction is excessive.
 
washunut said:
Last time I looked Madoff got life and I am fine with that.
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Therefore case closed? No.

A lot of other similar people get off pretty light given the sums in question.
 
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