Man facing life in prison after allegedly being caught stealing $31 of chocolate bars

A 34-year-old man is now facing the prospect of life in prison after allegedly being caught stuffing $31 of chocolate bars into his pockets in a US convenience store.

据称，一名34岁的男子因在美国一家便利店里将价值31美元的巧克力棒直接塞进自己口袋被抓，现在他未来面临着有期徒刑的判决。

New Orleans resident Jacobia Grimes faces the life sentence after being charged under the Louisiana state’s habitual-offender law, which considers past offences.

这位面临有期徒刑的居民名叫雅可比·格兰姆斯，来自新奥尔良。考虑到他之前的罪行，路易斯安那州根据惯犯法，下达了判决。

Grimes is a “quad” offender under the habitual-offender law following five previous convictions.

根据当地的惯犯法，格兰姆斯已经是“四次案犯”，加上本次，他已经五次犯下罪行。

According to his lawyer, those five previous convictions totalled less than $500 for incidents at Rite-Aid, Sav-A-Center, Blockbuster Video and Rouses stores.

据他的律师说，这五个前科总额低于500美元，包括在来爱德公司、SAV-A中心，百视通视频和Rouses连锁商店所犯的小偷小摸。

“I just think it points to the absurdity of the multiple billing statute. They’re spending their time to lock someone up for years over $31 worth of candy. It’s ridiculous,” attorney Miles Swanson said.

“我只是认为按照次数定罪的法令很荒诞。他们把时间花在关押一个只拿了价值31美元的人。真是太可笑了，“律师万里斯旺森说。

In the most recent of the convictions, Swanson said Grimes accepted a four-year jail sentence as a double offender after being caught stealing a Dollar General store of a pair of socks and trousers.

在最近的犯案中，斯旺森说，格兰姆斯曾作为二次案犯坐了四年牢，只因为他在达乐公司偷了一双袜子和一条裤子。

Swanson believes Grimes could have been charged with a state misdemeanor under a different statute, but now could potentially add to the nine years he has already spent in prison.

斯旺森相信，在其他法令下，格兰姆斯可能只会以轻罪论处，但现在很有可能会继续判为有期徒刑，即便他之前已经在监狱度过了九年。

“It’s unconscionably excessive to threaten someone with 20 years to life for candy,” said Grimes’s other attorney Michael Kennedy.

“因为偷了点糖果就要判决20年的牢狱，真的是不合情理，也太过了。” 另一个格兰姆斯的律师迈克尔·肯尼迪说。

"[But] the District Attorney is following the law as it’s written. The DA certainly had a choice. I may not agree with the choice they made, but they didn’t do anything improper."

“【但是】地方检察官确实是根据成文法执行的。地方检察官当然要有抉择。我可能不同意他们的判决，但他们所做的没有任何不妥之处。“

Louisiana has been titled the ‘world’s prison capital’ in an expose that found the US state imprisons more citizens than any other state and holds an incarceration state “nearly five times Iran’s, 13 times China’s and 20 times Germany’s.”

路易斯安那州有“世界监狱之都”之称，据揭露，与其他州相比，这一地方州监禁的囚犯数量最多，“是伊朗的五倍，中国的13倍，德国的20倍。”

"The hidden engine behind the state’s well-oiled prison machine is cold, hard cash," the Times-Picayune reported in 2012.

“该州监狱机器运行良好的背后隐藏的引擎是钞票，”2012年时代花絮报说。

“A majority of Louisiana inmates are housed in for-profit facilities, which must be supplied with a constant influx of human beings or a $182 million industry will go bankrupt.”

“大多数路易斯安那州囚犯被安置在以营利为目的的设施里，必须不断有人住进来，否则这个价值1.82亿美元的行业将会破产。”

Judge Franz Zibilich, who is overseeing the case, considered how effective and relevant the ‘multiple bill’ approach remains.。

负责本案的法官弗兰茨·泽比里奇，考虑的是这种“多次犯案法案”的有效性和明确性。

“Isn’t this a little over the top?” he said.

“有点太过了吗？”他说。

“It’s not even funny… twenty years to life for a Snickers bar, or two or three or four.”

“因为一个，或两个、三个四个士力架而被判二十年……这并不可笑。”

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来源:英语新闻报道爱语吧作者:文凤