Posted on 05/01/2008 5:10:55 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Man might get prison time for sharing snack cake with inmate Thursday, May 1, 2008 6:19 PM By Mary Beth Lane THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH He slept through a fire drill, had loose tobacco in his possession and didn't show up for kitchen duty.
Then Timothy E. Caudill shared a Little Debbie snack cake with another inmate at a correctional facility in southeastern Ohio. That was the last straw.
The 21-year-old was kicked out of the residential community corrections program that was a requirement of his probation. And he could go to prison.
That is absurd, said Caudill's attorney, Claire “Buzz” Ball.
“Everybody talks about prison overcrowding. My God, you have to send some guy to prison for sharing a snack?” Ball said.
Vinton County Prosecutor Timothy P. Gleeson has asked county Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Simmons to revoke Caudill's probation and put him in prison. Simmons is expected to rule soon on the request, which he considered at a hearing April 16.
The prosecutor wants Caudill put in prison for nine months. With credit for 105 days served at the SEPTA Correctional Facility, he would serve nearly six more months.
Caudill's attorney has asked the judge to keep Caudill on probation or send him to the jail in Athens County, which costs $20 a day less than a state prison. Keeping Caudill out of prison would leave cell space for a more serious offender, Ball said.
“My God, over a 50-cent cake, the state would spend $12,600 for six months,” Ball said.
Caudill received a sentence of three years' probation Oct. 1, convicted last year of breaking and entering Krazy Katie's, a bar along Rt. 93 just south of McArthur, the Vinton County seat.
He was placed in SEPTA, a community corrections residential program in Nelsonville, on Oct. 10. The 64-bed program offers drug treatment, work training and counseling, and imposes strict rules.
Caudill bought the Little Debbie from the vending machine and then knowingly shared it with a fellow inmate who was on restriction and wasn't allowed access to the vending-machine snacks, said Bob Eaton, operations manager at SEPTA. Caudill was kicked out the next day.
“Admittedly, some of the rules seem a little strange, but the guys come to us because they made bad choices,” he said.
Caudill racked up a string of about eight misdemeanor offenses before breaking into Krazy Katie's and getting his first felony conviction, and his behavior at SEPTA shows that he still doesn't follow the rules, Gleeson said.
“It's more complicated than a Little Debbie snack cake,” he said.
Caudill said he bought a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie to share with someone who was allowed snack privileges, but a “boy who was always messing with” Caudill and was restricted from snacks swiped part of it.
“I don't think I deserve prison time,” Caudill said. “Maybe 30 days (in jail) and extended probation.”
The probationer lives next door to his family and works at Standard Hardware in downtown McArthur, bagging livestock feed, loading trucks and waiting on customers. He has been free on $10,000 bond since a court appearance Jan. 23.
His stepmother, Judy, wishes he could return to finish the SEPTA program. She said she saw a difference in him after his time in the program.
“I don't think someone should have to go to prison for something so small,” Mrs. Caudill said. “ He's basically a good kid. He's turning his life around, and he's trying.”
mlane@dispatch.com
As long as they weren’t swapping “nutty buddies”
Talk about zero tolerance. Geez.
Not that this guy is an angel, with 8 misdemeanors and a felony B&E, but still.
If there isn’t such a term as “weapons-grade idiocy,” there should be.
Yes but, did it have a file in it?
Sounds like a lesbian.
What else are you going to do with people that constantly break the rules?
Close. He's a guy.
He slept through a fire drill -— broke the rules
had loose tobacco in his possession -— broke the rules
and didn’t show up for kitchen duty -— broke the rules
passed food to another inmate -— broke the rules
From the article:
“Caudill received a sentence of three years’ probation Oct. 1, convicted last year of breaking and entering Krazy Katie’s, a bar along Rt. 93 just south of McArthur...”
Apparently the rules that apply to society at large are just an inconvenience to this punk. Mommy and Daddy never taught him that there are consequences to his actions, perhaps this is why he’s at a Correctional facility.
With idiots like this, you increase the discomfort until some shred of thought begins to form in what passes for a mind. Perhaps being a girlfriend to some other inmates will teach this punk that the rules apply to everyone. It’s a pity that his parents failed so utterly to instill this very basic lesson. Now society and the gets to pick up the bill.
And on que:
““I don’t think someone should have to go to prison for something so small,” Mrs. Caudill said. “ He’s basically a good kid. He’s turning his life around, and he’s trying.””
Yes, my little Johnny is such a GOOD boy. It’s not his fault, he’s trying. Oh, please don’t hold him accountable! Good Grief....
How about something that doesn't cost $13,000 over a snack cake? My taxes pay for Ohio prison funding.
I agree. But not to the tune of $13,000 of my tax dollars.
Has anyone ever read the ingredients listed on those death cakes?
I’ll bet he’d smoke if somebody didn’t stop him.
This is the perp talking. And showing more common sense than the idiots running the asylum.
Then Timothy E. Caudill shared a Little Debbie snack cake with another inmate
... and then knowingly shared it with a fellow inmate
... My God, you have to send some guy to prison for sharing a snack?” Ball said.
... and was restricted from snacks swiped part of it.
So it was swiped?? oh!!
But who took the strawberries??
Probably talks in the lunch line, too.
Bureaucrats only care about rules and compliance, not what it's going to cost.
I agree with Sample. This guy is a flake. The rules were spelled out, they were not onerous, and yet this Felon could not be bothered to meet even this minimal criteria in order to maintain the special status that he had been awarded. His apologetic and enabling Mother is yet another story.
Earth to Scumbag. Breaking the rules is what got you in this place in the first instance. More of the same only begets more of the same.
Yup. Power trumps money (and common sense) every time.
Yes, the guy is a problem. But not $13,000 of MY taxes worth. Give him more probation. Make him pick up highway trash. But let’s exercise a little fiscal restraint in proportion to the offense.
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