There is something about the criminal justice system here in Lima and the rest of Allen County that I do not understand. There can be some fairly well to do person here in the county steal $50,000 and when they go to court they can apologize, give a sob story and tell how it was just something that got out of hand. The judge gives them probation and a little slap on the hand and tells them to play nice and that is it. But on the other hand, some poor smuck working a minimum paying job trying to make ends meet can steal a couple thousand dollars and gets at least 18 months or more in jail no matter how much they plead, cry and say how sorry they are.
Just for the record: Neither I nor any member of my family nor any of my friends have been charged with nor been convicted of stealing anything. My views on this are completely from articles I have read in The Lima News.
I am sure that if I am in a state of confusion about this there are a lot more people in Allen County that are wondering the same thing but just haven’t spoken about it.
Dewey E Smith, Lima
