Homeless Man Sentenced to 180 Days in Jail, Steals $2 Worth of Candy

[Hum]

A homeless man was sentenced Wednesday to 180 days in the Marion County Jail for stealing Twix and Snickers candy bars worth about $2.

County Judge John Futch questioned him about getting a job or seeking help or getting food from the soup kitchen.

Futch wanted to know if he thought the crime was worth it.

Delvis Rodriguez-Ramos, 21, was already on probation for retail petty theft when the second crime occurred. On Wednesday, he appeared before the judge via video link from the jail and entered a guilty plea.

In addition to the jail term, Futch fined him $500 and told him his current six-month probation term could be violated.

Afterward, Rodriguez-Ramos spoke to a reporter.

?I had not eaten in a couple of days, and I?m homeless,? he said.

An Ocala Police Department officer went to Gamers Edge, 2601 SW 19th Ave. Road, on Tuesday in reference to a retail theft.

Lawrence Bostick, an employee at Gamers Edge, told the officer that on Saturday he noticed candy missing from the counter display, according to an OPD report. Bostick said Rodriguez-Ramos was in the building so he asked him if he had taken the candy. Rodriguez-Ramos denied it and left.

On Monday, the employee said, Rodriguez-Ramos returned to the store and admitted taking the candy, according to the report. Bostick told police he asked Rodriguez-Ramos to return Tuesday so he could talk with him.

When Rodriguez-Ramos returned, the employee called the police.

Rodriguez-Ramos told the officer he took the candy because he was hungry. He said he had been at the store visiting a friend.

When asked on Wednesday why his friend didn?t pay for the candy, he said, ?I don?t have friends like that.?

About three weeks ago, he said, he stole some canned food from Walmart because he was hungry.

source

[sanctified Veteran]

So, he steals a $2 candy bar and because of that the government will make sure he has food three times a-day, bed, a roof over his head, showers and social entertainment in a low security jail. Sounds good to me.

[CG-88]

The title sounds rediculous but when you read it he was on probation so really he is getting jail for commiting any crime whilst on probation.

And yeah sanctified madness!

[*RedBull*]

Sadly there are thousands of people getting food stamps and SSI benefits who don't deserve them. Sometimes jail is the only option.

[Detection]

Won't he be helped with housing after a sentence that long ?

[Rudy]

This guy is smart, do a small petty crime and go to jail where he will be sheltered and fed every day

[sanctified Veteran]

And yeah sanctified madness!

I'm being honest tho :p This was a genius-like move by this man.

[Navan]

Not homeless anymore.

[Growled Member]

He may be homeless and hungry but he sure ain't no dummy.

[metallithrax]

You still have the 3 strikes and you're out rule over there?

[Shane Nokes]

Won't he be helped with housing after a sentence that long ?

Sadly no. We mostly let our homeless rot here in the US.

Right now we have the ridiculous situation of more than enough empty foreclosed homes to house all of the homeless in the US, but because sharing has become a 'dirty' concept they will continue to sit empty.

There are some programs but right now it's not enough with how many jobs we've shipped elsewhere and the fact that those programs often are designed to not actually help you.

The one time in my life I applied for food assistance I was sent the letter stating when I had to call for my phone interview, on the day it had to be completed. :huh:

Let me clarify that. I was supposed to call in on a specific date, and that was the date they mailed the letter according to the postmark. I didn't get the letter until 3 days after I was supposed to do the phone interview, which disqualified me for 3 months. By that time I just found ways to borrow money & stay fed until work started coming in again.

A lot of people are fine with tossing this guy in jail...yes he violated his probation...which was for petty retail theft...most likely he was stealing food or clothing...basics.

[Sranshaft]

Many homeless people do this when winter starts to make sure they are out of the cold weather.

[Shane Nokes]

That is also true

[CrashG]

He's a sick **** doing what he did, but he's not homeless for at least 60 days.

Usually get 2 for 1 on sentences in the county jail, at least you do here in the Atlanta metro area.

[Shane Nokes]

He's a sick **** doing what he did, but he's not homeless for at least 60 days.

Usually get 2 for 1 on sentences in the county jail, at least you do here in the Atlanta metro area.

Wait what? I would expect this sort of reply for a rapist, or someone who molested a child...but someone is 'sick' if they steal food because they are homeless?

I would agree that breaking the law isn't good, but I wouldn't call them a sick sort of anything over it.

[FightAndLive]

I've personally gone from being homeless to being a small business owner and during that experience I've met some really smart people who became homeless simply because their jobs got shipped overseas. It's sad, and it really ****es me seeing heinous amounts of money spent by people who have it.

Stupid charitable organizations such as the National Organization for Marriage(or any other retarded cause movement that rich people donate to) raise hundreds of millions of dollars a year, Presidential Campaigns raise billions of dollars, if say you put half of that money towards investing in small businesses, entrepreneurs, you could potentially create thousands, millions of jobs off the backs of their success.

But until people in power actually get serious about getting people off the street, you will end up with cases such as this were now the taxpayers are paying for an individual who is just looking for the bare minimum to survive.

[CrashG]

Wait what? I would expect this sort of reply for a rapist, or someone who molested a child...but someone is 'sick' if they steal food because they are homeless?

I would agree that breaking the law isn't good, but I wouldn't call them a sick sort of anything over it.

Oops sorry, long day at work, Somehow thought it was about this story:

Police found Hofstad inside with his face painted and the cat's tail and intestines around his neck.

Hofstad told police he killed the cat because he was hungry and planned to use its skeleton as party decorations.

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz25607rVME

Candy bar and cat articles start to look alike after 16+ hours at work. :p

[Shane Nokes]

I'm glad you posted FightAndLive. I've been in the same situation myself. I've had places where I've worked ship jobs elsewhere and lay off entire departments with 24-48 hours worth of notice.

It's garbage and can really put someone in a bad situation. I've been homeless for 2 very, very short periods in my life. I've been very fortunate the last 4 years to have had the jobs I've had.

Some people however aren't so fortunate. Like I've said before, we have enough housing in this country to not have any homeless people...but we just let a lot of it sit empty...

[Shane Nokes]

No, he's a sick ****** for he did to the cat, you know like wearing it's tail and "some of it's internals" as a necklace.

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz25607rVME

No, he's a sick ****** for he did to the cat, you know like wearing it's tail and "some of it's internals" as a necklace.

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz25607rVME

Dude...what are you on? You must be lost or something. This thread is about a guy who stole $2 worth of candy from a store. The names don't even match in the stories.

[CrashG]

Dude...what are you on? You must be lost or something. This thread is about a guy who stole $2 worth of candy from a store. The names don't even match in the stories.

16+ hours at work with NO sleep

So I mistook a news article I was reading in one tab, and had several other sites open in other tabs. And posted something by mistake, well **** me, I made a mistake Mr. RichardHead

[FightAndLive]

I'm glad you posted FightAndLive. I've been in the same situation myself. I've had places where I've worked ship jobs elsewhere and lay off entire departments with 24-48 hours worth of notice.

It's garbage and can really put someone in a bad situation. I've been homeless for 2 very, very short periods in my life. I've been very fortunate the last 4 years to have had the jobs I've had.

Some people however aren't so fortunate. Like I've said before, we have enough housing in this country to not have any homeless people...but we just let a lot of it sit empty...

While I completely agree with you, I'm more of attacking the cause rather then the symptom. The cause of people being homeless is the exact same cause that causes homes to be foreclosed...there are to few good paying jobs out there. Republicans and democrats like to preach about creating work and there are nothing more than all talk. People who are wealthy, who have money need to start investing in people with new ideas, that are capable of carrying them out, this historically has created new jobs and economic prosperity. Tax cuts are nice, but not required since the causes I mentioned in my previous posts are able to thrive off donations(not just $5 donations, but im talking about the heavy contributors), and all that money gets spent into a bottomless pit of stupidity. Roads are nice to maintain and get construction workers back to work, but after all the union stuff(e.g. cal trans works taking a break every 5 minutes) projects never get completed according to budget. We also need to move our society forward and im hoping I will live to see the day when cars become obsolete(teleportation :p).

To get my particular company(a software/gaming company) off the ground we got $500,000 in startup capital which will last us for about a year. Divide whatever wasted spending you can calculate up, divide that by two and that's how many startup companies never existed because people are focusing on the wrong things.

Until the mouth pieces get out of our government were going to keep hearing stories about young, smart kids stealing a $2 candy bar to go to jail just to get the bare minimum to survive. And what sucks even more is that kid is going to have some type of PTSD when he get outs(rape being the first thing that comes to mind), so we probably won't ever see his true potentional or what he could have contributed to society.

[Shane Nokes]

16+ hours at work with NO sleep

So I mistook a news article I was reading in one tab, and had several other sites open in other tabs. And posted something by mistake, well **** me, I made a mistake Mr. RichardHead

Hopefully you'll find some time to get some sleep rather than insult people.

While I completely agree with you, I'm more of attacking the cause rather then the symptom. The cause of people being homeless is the exact same cause that causes homes to be foreclosed...there are to few good paying jobs out there. Republicans and democrats like to preach about creating work and there are nothing more than all talk. People who are wealthy, who have money need to start investing in people with new ideas, that are capable of carrying them out, this historically has created new jobs and economic prosperity. Tax cuts are nice, but not required since the causes I mentioned in my previous posts are able to thrive off donations(not just $5 donations, but im talking about the heavy contributors), and all that money gets spent into a bottomless pit of stupidity. Roads are nice to maintain and get construction workers back to work, but after all the union stuff(e.g. cal trans works taking a break every 5 minutes) projects never get completed according to budget. We also need to move our society forward and im hoping I will live to see the day when cars become obsolete(teleportation :p).

To get my particular company(a software/gaming company) off the ground we got $500,000 in startup capital which will last us for about a year. Divide whatever wasted spending you can calculate up, divide that by two and that's how many startup companies never existed because people are focusing on the wrong things.

Until the mouth pieces get out of our government were going to keep hearing stories about young, smart kids stealing a $2 candy bar to go to jail just to get the bare minimum to survive. And what sucks even more is that kid is going to have some type of PTSD when he get outs(rape being the first thing that comes to mind), so we probably won't ever see his true potentional or what he could have contributed to society.

Oh I was most definitely in agreement about the issue. The causes need to be taken care of. BTW a gaming company/software company eh? If you ever want someone freelance to work on some stuff let me know. I'm usually around, or could send you my e-mail address if you want. :)