Posted on 07/11/2005 1:08:03 PM PDT by Dog Gone
WACO — A man has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for stealing a cell phone.
Glenn Alvin Reed, 31, was convicted of robbery Thursday for stealing a cellular phone from a man's truck last fall and then hitting him several times when he demanded its return.
Jurors, who deliberated about 15 minutes, convicted Reed as a habitual criminal because he has prior felony convictions for injury to an elderly person and robbery. That bumped the minimum sentence from five to 25 years for Reed, who rejected a 15-year plea bargain offer from prosecutors.
Reed also has 15 misdemeanor convictions dating to 1991, including 12 criminal trespassing convictions.
Reed, who testified during his trial against the wishes of his court-appointed attorneys, frequently went into profanity-laced tirades and told jurors he didn't care if they gave him life in prison.
"There's things I choose to do, like, if I go in a store and choose to take a Snicker's bar," Reed testified. "If you catch me, you catch me. If not, I'm going to go home and eat it up and go on about my business, dog."
Four years ago, Reed walked up behind retired Texas Ranger Capt. Bob Prince outside the McLennan County courthouse annex and said he was robbing him. Prince decided not to shoot Reed because he could tell he was unarmed, the former Ranger testified during Reed's cell phone robbery trial.
Prince easily took Reed into custody, and he later was sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records.
Reed made an obscene hand gesture toward Prince as the former Ranger left the witness stand.
There should be a book, "How Not to Act While on Trial" and they should put a picture of this guy on the cover of the book.
... and battery.
BTW, "steal" could mean shoplifting, or burglary or a number of other things. Robbery, which this is a case of, always includes assault, i.e., the crime of putting a reasonable person in fear of death or great bodily harm. A more accurate headline would say "Chronic Felon Gets 99 Years for Robbery and Battery".
It does not explain how he got 99 years, it only says 25. However, everyday that this sleeze is in jail will be a better day for the rest of us.
God bless Texas Juries.
because if you kill them, then you get the death penalty.
1. "Spit" into the wind
2. Tug on Superman's Cape
3. Take the mask off the old Lone (Texas) Ranger
4. Mess with Prince. You don't mess around with Prince.
He should get a parole hearing every three months. Let this guy run his mouth every chance he gets. The people of Texas demand entertainment value for their tax dollars. Plus he'd never get released and the State of Texas can say that they give him chances.
Rgr that! They even try to side-step the full account of strike three. Hey, no agenda there, huh?
If you kill them, there is no one to testify against you, and it is very hard for the cops to identify you. The odds are that you will not get the death penalty, it is rarely used in america today, it is statistically insignificant, and worth the risk, esp compared to the odds of being convicted with no witnesses to testify against you.
The headline is pure, unadulterated bilge. The long-rap-sheet felon committed another violent felony while "stealing" the cell phone.
It was an attempt to explain that since the jury found that he was a habitual criminal, the least they could have sentenced him to was 25 years.
They obviously didn't think that was long enough.
He will be eligible for parole in 20 years, I believe. Doesn't mean he'll get it.
...and all previous convictions that led to him being dubbed a "habitual criminal."
That's why they call it a cell phone.
except in texas, where this happened.
What a misleading and dishonest headline. But, it comes from a major news source so what can we expect.
What does that have to do with anything?
and
for "15 misdemeanor convictions dating to 1991".
NOT for stealing a cell phone!
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