Postcards from Long Island (6)

Long Island - Promising young cellmate I taught to trade the financial markets. Released on the 11th of December '05 and rearrested February ’08. Alleged to have committed forgery and hit an officer with a car. He is writing from Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Lower Buckeye jail.

Shaun,

What’s up, bro?

I had a very successful court appearance last week. We were able to demonstrate some weaknesses in 2 of the main charges. After my lawyer spoke, he and the prosecutor ironed out plea bargains for 4 out of 5 of the charges, and for the fifth we got a verbal offer.

First, they’re going to run everything concurrent. I’ll be getting 4.5 years plus probation on the fraud cases. Only probation on the aggravated I.D. theft. And our verbal agreement for the aggravated assault is 6.5. I feel like I was given my life back.
Everything needs to be done by December 12th. That’s when my trial date is. By then I’ll have 2 years backtime. So, with the 2 years and the 85% to serve, I’ll be home in about 3 years.
Everything fell into place beautifully. The prosecutor is being very fair. My lawyer is brilliant, and the judge has been generous. She gave us 7 more months to work all of the details out.

I feel so blessed. No other words can describe my feelings. It’s been a long road, Shaun. This last year and a half has taken a lot out of me, but has also put a lot in. Facing being shot at by the police, then facing a 20 year sentence has impacted me in new ways that I discover every day. Maybe you understand what I mean.

All around me people are getting so much time. This new county attorney is relentless. Sentences are getting longer and longer. The State of Arizona developed a new plan to deal with the budget cuts. Everyone thought they would start with early Arizona Department of Corrections’ releases…wrong. ADOC has put up for sale every complex except for Florence and Buckeye. Privatization. So if you’re in the market you can buy your own prison complex. They say the sale will bring the immediate cash they need. So Arizona will continue to become even more of a police state than it already is.

Well, my friend, I’m happy to be able to finally share some good news with you.

Take care,

Long Island

Click here for Long Island’s previous blog.

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Shaun P. Attwood