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Jenkins got a fair deal
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Location: Blogs Now We're Talking |
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| Posted by: Joe Byrnes |
4/11/2007 4:42 PM |
The squirrelly excuse was a bad beginning – how he accidentally used the wrong debit card 67 times and gambled with a nonprofit agency’s cash. (You have to punch in the right PIN, for goodness sake!)
Now Whitfield Jenkins, a respected community leader, has admitted his gambling problem and his guilt and signed a Pre-Trial Intervention Program contract to avoid criminal prosecution.
Investigators said Jenkins took (and later returned) $10,043 from Ocala Leased Housing Corp. while he was its president. He was charged with grand theft.
But after perhaps six months, if he follows the PTI rules, the case will be dropped.
Jenkins has long stood up courageously for a lot of important things I believe in – voting rights, social justice, equal education – and I’m glad the law allows him to avoid a criminal record.
He should be thanking his lucky stars and patting his lawyer on the back.
Instead, Jenkins and others have accused the State Attorney's Office of being unfair to him by practicing a double standard - because the mayor of Howey-in-the-Hills got away with misusing a town credit card several times to the tune of $1,144.
Jenkins told me he doesn't claim the charge against him or the PTI deal is unfair. He takes responsibility for his actions.
No, Jenkins said, it's a question of equal justice.
"If the route that I took is just," he said, "then the mayor should have been treated the very same."
I asked Assistant State Attorney Mark Simpson about this. He said the two cases are different.
Back in February, Simpson wrote a memo on Mayor Kenneth Green's case. (Compare the memo and a police affidavit about Jenkins attached to this blog entry.)
According to Simpson's memo, the mayor reportedly said it all started when his son grabbed the wrong card from his dresser to make an online purchase. Then, for a couple of months, the computer defaulted to that card.
The personal expenditures, which Green reimbursed, included hotel rooms and air fare. The last one was for $355 in sports tickets on Dec. 7, which was credited back on the same day.
"Although the State could prove a temporary deprivation to the town by the Mayor's use of the town credit card, there is no evidence of an intent to defraud and therefore charges are not warranted," Simpson concluded.
To suggest Mayor Green was treated differently because he is white and Jenkins is black is "utterly ridiculous," Simpson told me. "I'm an equal opportunity prosecutor. ... If there is evidence that you committed a crime and I can prove it in a court of law, I'm going to charge your butt."
That's why he charged Jenkins.
And, as the PTI contract states, "the interest of the State of Florida and [Jenkins'] interest will be best served" with court-approved leniency.
In Jenkins' contract, signed March 19, he acknowledges guilt. He has to report to his PTI officer monthly and pay minor fees and $370 in court costs (or do 37 hours of community service). He may not change his residence or leave Marion County without permission.
Jenkins may not possess a weapon without permission and must follow a few other rules. He also agreed to perform 13 hours of public service, attend weekly Gamblers Anonymous meetings and continue personal counseling with Elton Hume of the Christian Counseling Association. Under the contract, he can wrap this up in six months with "no criminal prosecution concerning this charge."
There is no injustice here in requiring a prominent citizen - or any other lawbreaker - to jump through a few inconvenient hoops. On the contrary, it's a good opportunity for Jenkins to put 67 little mistakes behind him.
Joe Byrnes can be reached at joe@ocala.com or (352) 867-4112.
Memo about Kenneth Green
Police affidavit in Jenkins case |
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Comments (3)
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Re: Jenkins got a fair deal |
By Diane on
4/11/2007 8:27 PM |
Oh, come on, Joe! 67 little mistakes? That's stealing 67 times and to me, at least, that's NOT little.
Jenkins stole from us, the taxpayers, the public, and I think the little slap he got is a complete injustice.
Jenkins citing Mayor Green's situation is another attempt to justify what HE willingly, knowingly did- which is a complete dismissal of his personal actions.
The injustice is that Jenkins is getting away with committing a crime. |
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Re: Jenkins got a fair deal |
By Brownie on
4/18/2007 8:30 PM |
WOW!!!
I'm amazed at the large number of responses/comments you are getting to this post. The length of the thread on this blog topic is just incredible. It demonstrates how in touch you are with the issue of legal injustices in our community. Congratulations on such a pearl of journalistic expression. Surely it will earn you some kind of award. If nothing else, some brownie points with the big guys at your mother ship--The New York Times. Hope to see an announcement of your promotion to the mother land any day now. |
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Re: Jenkins got a fair deal |
By Wolfgang on
5/1/2007 4:56 PM |
| The previous poster's sarcasm aside, Mr. Byrnes, there are a great number of us who read, absorb, and see little need to comment further on an issue that you have well and truly represented. I can tell you, however, that the general sentiment you expressed DOES in fact indicate that you have a good working knowledge of what a less vocal but more rational number of readers feel. |
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