Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Hooker turns arsonist

From the Washington Post:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A prostitute who torched a civic leader's home because she was angry that newcomers to the neighborhood were hurting her business was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Dusty Simmons, 45, had never been to prison despite 83 prior convictions for prostitution, drugs, robbery and bail jumping. The judge sentenced her on the arson conviction as a habitual felon, noting Simmons had lived outside the law most of her life.

How does that happen? I know prostitution is a misdemeanor in a lot of places. How do you get convictions for drugs, robbery, and bail jumping on top of that and stay out of prison? She has something on the order of 3 convictions per year since being a teenager and has never been in prison?
Her defense attorney said Simmons would appeal. Friends and relatives asked for leniency, saying that since being released on bail, Simmons had been drug-free and earned an honest living on her uncle's shrimp boat.

Excuse me, but the argument that she should get lienency because she has followed what must have been standard bail agreements after burning down a guy's house in a drug induced rage falls a little short. It falls even shorter in view of her past convictions.

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