No one argues that Heriberto Rodriquez is not a thief. In an apparent state of euphoria after the Cincinnati Reds won a baseball game over the Colorado Rockies, Rodriguez grabbed a bag stuffed with $3000 of concession stand money and fled. He was later caught and was sentenced to serve 180 days in jail by Judge Melba Marsh.
While incarcerated, Rodriguez was hired to work in the Hamilton County Justice Center kitchen, where he was eligible to receive a credit of three days for every day served, because kitchen workers at that facility work long, grueling hours. Only those who were not charged with escape or a violent crime are eligible for this much coveted perk.
Starting at 10 p.m. Rodriguez would begin preparing food for the next morning’s breakfast. He would then start the new day serving food. It was this part of the job that got him in trouble. Instructed to serve two pancakes per inmate, Rodriguez, to the delight of his fellow prisoners, gave out four pancakes instead. Rodriquez was fired, because giving out extra pancakes constitutes stealing according to Hamilton County Sheriff Department spokesperson, Steve Barnett. Due to being fired, Rodriquez lost the three-for-one credit.
Barnett claims that reason Rodriquez was fired was because the taxpayers of Ohio pay six cents for each pancake. The two extra pancakes that Rodriquez gave out cost each good citizen an extra twelve cents This egregious affront to the wallets of the taxpayers meant that Rodriquez would be punished by having his jail credit taken away.
Perhaps the sheriff’s department didn’t calculate how much extra money it would cost the taxpayers to keep Rodriquez incarcerated for the extra months left of his sentence. Perhaps Judge Marsh did, because when Rodriquez appealed to her to be released after serving 73 days of his 180 day sentence, she agreed. But not before she remarked that he was a “generous soul.” Judge Marsh also bestowed on him what will most likely be a life-long nickname when she added, “Go home and get yourself a big box of Aunt Jemima and eat all you want, Mr. Pancake.”
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer
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