19 year old gets 8 year sentence for graffiti

That sucks but hey he should of draw on paper or get permission to do it that way you don't get in trouble.This reminds me of The Boondocks episode The Joy of Graffiti.Grand dad say no one told you to put this shit on my house you should of put it on paper in the first place now clean all this off my house lol check out the episode

Damn that sucks 8 years for painting a wall

i think more programs should be created and then "orginized" graffitti artist (and their work) can be widely accepted....and we'll be living in a more colorful world!!!

People do not realize that prisons are not correcting anyone, instead creating angry, violent, crime oriented individuals especially when incarcerated for non-violent crimes. Instead our government must invest in corrective approach. Advancements in understanding of human psychology are successfully used in marketing, advertisement, and sales. Every supermarket manipulates minds of shoppers and yet no corrective solutions for non-violent crime? We must question many aspects of our justice system and the reasons for creating so many laws. Our justice system is corrupt and profitable industry.

This is absolutely ridiculous. No one should go to jail for that long (or at all) for tagging. The judges comment at the end was even more disturbing then the kids act. How can you expect "a young man to make better choices" when the rest of his youth will be spent in jail? How will jail change his ways? If anything, he will have to toughen up to survive... and I don't blame him when he does.

We should stop spending time and money on such stupidity and start getting a better system so that these things do happen. I.e. increase arts funding, increase afterschool program funding, etc.

When will everyone learn?

It is a death penalty state.

Did this judge get paid by private prison for a great referral?

Shawn

Great idea on his punishment. He could at least clean up tagging or do art projects for the nursery school or even the police station---but jail?

I wonder what it said.

What they should do is send him out in the bad areas covering up gang tags. That would keep him looking over his shoulder.

I think I see what they're trying to do here: Crack down hard on the smaller crimes so no one will even THINK about committing the bigger crimes. They are acting more in the interest of society as a whole (and of the law-abiding citizens, in particular) than in the interest of this kid. It's always a balancing act. Though I think that it would be more effective to go after a whole lot of graffiti artists and give them each two years than to make a big example of the one kid, giving him 8.

He shoulda stuck to train cars.

A Hard Head makes for a Sore Ass !

This is ridiculous. Poor kid.

This sentence is a discgrace and an outrage.. This is where our tax dollars are going? then we wonder why the country is backwards. 24 yrs? Really? Why not sentence him to death. Might as well. No man will ever be the same after that kind of sentence. After 1 or 2 yrs im sure he would get the point. The only example this sets is how rediculous this country has become. Shame on any one who approves of this kind of sentence. Jail is for people who kill , rob, hurt and rape. People who comit crimes that ruin other peoples lives and can never be taken back. I dont care how much he "vandalised" , all that can be repaired. What about this kids life? What if that was your child? Would you want to see him go away for 24 yrs? even 8 yrs is rediculous. Havent we learned that these things will never scare kids out of doing things like this. You cant scare people out of killing and selling drugs so what makes you think this will actually do something other than destroy a misguided youths life?
We need to make progress and find an alternative way to handle these situations because obviously these dont work. WAKE UP AMERICA.

Absolutely ridiculous! Do these people, (victims, judge and prosecutor) understand how long 8 years is? Eight years for a crime which he only has to pay $5,000 in restitution! I'm sure he would of learned his lesson after only a year, or less. It seems as if there would be a much better way to solve this problem, I can think of many. If this elected judge can't, than I feel sorry for her and the people who elected her because they are completely cruel, evil people, who don't deserve the rights and freedoms this kid deserves.

Haw!! Haw!! He was given the opportunity to avoid this and did not take it. On the other hand, it is kind of a steep punishment. I think a better solution would have been for him to spend 4 hours a day 5 days a week cleaning graffiti in the city for the next eight years. Miss more than X days and spend the rest of the sentence in the old gray bar motel...

And for those that call this art... Bite Me. It is plain and simple vandalism and everywhere it turns up it looks like the but crack of America!

this is aaaaaaaaaaaaabsurd! is sending a 19 yr old to prison REALLY going to help him "redirect his life" so he can "contribute anything positive"?? i think not!

the church "forgives him, but still wants to see him face punishment"- no comment

worst part is when he's up for parole in 2 yrs prosecuter hopes community will come together and send letters "demanding" he completes his full 8yrs!- so sad. very glad i don't live in this community...what's next, running his family out of town with torches & pitchforks

What's the minimum sentence if he had robbed thousand of dollars worth of goods?

remember its 3 sentences of 8 years concurrently. Ok, now whip out those calc's and the cost of a prisoner per day for tax payers in for Nueces is between 61-65 dollars. So, his little spray can bonanza is going to cost you in me 613,000 dollars. Wow.. So your telling me you would rather pay 613,000 to keep a teenager in prision for 28 years? then he would have had all the networking he needs when he gets out. He know's just who to call to do more crimes, drug connections etc... he WILL have to join a gang in prision or most likely die. That's the way it is in the tank. No just imaging if we had competent judges our taxes saving would be incredible!!

how is it that he's getting more jail time than some rapists?

That Libyan dude that bombed a plane killing 270 people just got released.

He did 21 years.

Only 21 years for killing 270 people!!!!!

And this kid gets 8??? I've given up on humanity

do suppose the clean up bill, or confining him in a prison for 8 years will cost the tax payers more. why didn't they just give him a fucking water blaster and make him clean the grafitti?

idiots.

The way I see it is...we put someone who does graffiti in jail for 8 years...wait 3 concurrent terms of 8 is what I read...so 24 years? regardless...prison turns even the littlest law breakers into harden criminals. The best way to meet new partners in crime is prision, so were just starting to shape him for his future. So, lets throw a teenager into prision while we let the child molestors, rapest, and worst out. As you see on the news these days rapist/child mollestors usually get less then 5 years and most of the time probation. But its only your kids, not property like a wall or a car, so we knows what matters more. Look at it this way... The state gets paid by the federal governent for each prisioner they have in the system. So they try to find the criminals that are not hard to deal with in prision..aka graffiti, drug possesion, little crimes. Its better to have nonviolant people in prision so things stay quite and the money rolls in.

I don't care what damage he did...he can get a job and pay for it and server a 10 year probation period or something like that, but its a waste of a human life to put him in the tank. I gurantee he will be raped, become a multiple drug users and may hurt someone in his time in prision. Are we helping or hurting?

I guessed this was Texas even before I read the article, and sure enough. I could see giving this young man maybe 30 days in jail but eight years falls into the category of cruel and unusual punishment. I'd like the name of his attorney so I make sure never to hire him/her.

Looks like America has the same problem as South Africa....A bunch of retarded cops that have absolutely nothing to do but target petty """""""criminals""""""".

fuck the police

the verdict fits several variations of the crime commited, and (imo) sorta pardons the assumption of private property. i know of public, governmental, and retail property. private rights to property seems to be an inconsolable rhetoric against public space..and its essentially copyright of any given proximity. unless everyone work/live as construction workers - these are not life works, or artistic properties. but it obvious kids shouldnt go around tagging everything in sight. back to the verdict though ; apart for easing custodial tensions of home 'monarchs', and business 'barons', this kid is instituted as a 'criminal'. the only transformative outcome will be in the company of hardened/institutionalized persons ..or of a quarantined off-streets justice. to say, not a peaceable resolution in any terms, or even just. yes - the acts are criminal, and restitution should be garnered in a work or service program..but above all the chaos inflicted with cans of paint, the kid impacted(maybe in the easiest way he could find/not creatively) and rallied the community. did they, in turn, forfeit any shared contention to abject scrutiny? why isnt that a crime?

He got 8 years because he lives in a small town/city. If this dude was tagging houses in a bigger city he would have been found by someone else rather then the cops. Also he should have taken the first plea deal

What a waste of taxpayer's $$$$$. Yeah, jail is going too do so much good for this troubled guy... what a joke. Let's focus on punishig more serious crimes your honor.

All I can do is shake my head in disgust. Disgusted because it's a quandary of how best to handle this case. Put the kid in jail, he comes out as another cynical, militant man with a permanent record, unemployable and destined to be cycled through the system over and over again. His first chance was to join the army, a great idea and props to that judge. He didn't so this is what he gets but dammit, what are we gonna do with our youth? We can't jail all of them and turn them into criminals for life..Something has to change. What can we do, we need ideas...

First of all, I'm all for graffiti when it's done in an artistic and respectful fashion, believe it or not it does exist. Secondly, I agree that this punishment is way too extreme for just a "tag"! If Donte' Stallworth of the Browns can run over a man while driving drunk and only receive 30 days in jail why should this poor guy have to spend most of his 20's in a prison?! I guess thats the kind of society we've become, Life seems to be overshadowed by most anything now a days.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Eight years is much too long for graffiti. I completely understand the monetary value of the destruction, but I am sure that there would be a much better way to punish this boy and for him to serve restitution.

"hey so what did you go to jail for; rape, murder, possession?" "Nope graffiti"

This punk deserves a world of shit to fall on him, just not in prison. 8 years in is absolutely ridiculous. The community could get their moneys worth by just sentencing 8+ years community service. Army would have been a better idea.

I think a lot of people chimming in on this don't understand that by spray painting some property, you can actually destroy it, rather than just deface and damage. for example you cant simply sandblast/clean various types of woods, windows and metals once it's seen spraypaint. So I most definitely believe he was capable of causing thousands in damage.

But do you remember HOW Cool Hand Luke ended up in prison? Do you remember WHAT happened to Cool Hand Luke in prison?

What a lot of commenters aren't getting is that it's not eight years, it's -three- eight-year sentences to be served concurrently. 24 years!

This kid has been sentenced to more time in prison than he's been -alive- so far!

Child molesters and murderers get sentenced to less..

Assuming the "tagging" photos shown in the video are representative of the crime, this isn't about art or lack of an outlet for artistic skills, but still a crime none the less. Having said that, eight years is about revenge nothing else. Given the stated dollar value of the damage, this may be an eight amendment issue. In the event it proves to be so and the kid is released from prison, to be driven to the nearest recruitment center, to insure he fulfills his previous agreement with the courts. As far as any message the sentence was supposed to send, it will have no effect on those borderline criminals that committed the fraud that again left the world in a mess.

If he went THAT FAR... to do graffiti.. then its probably his life, his passion, obssesion, whatever. I understand that he damaged property, but what good will locking him for 8 years do? If anything fine him loads of money. It's not like he burnt down places. 8 years of life is worth way more than expensies for a church to be repainted+.

Even if he caused thousands of dollars in damage 8 or 24 years(its not to clear to me) in jail does nothing to him. He will only exit jail as a true criminal and then he will commit true crimes since the prison time will only make him worse not better him.
People when you die you will not have your material possesions go with you so don't worry about them too much. His life is worth more than whatever he tagged.

Make him buy the paint, paint all the houses back to normal, then give him 6 months in jail, and 900 hours community service.

There are rapists and murders who don't serve 8 years in prison these days! Our society needs to get it's priorities straight.

Why waste taxpayer money to give him food and a roof over his head for 8 years????? That sounds GREAT to people like me about to have their homes foreclosed.

Making him clean and restore graffiti sites for a couple of years would be severe enough. It could be a 6 day a week job for 2 years.

How can they waste years of his life for tagging? Do they send kids to jail for writing on desks in Texas too?

As for the jail sentence, is it 8 years or 24?

There definitely needs to be a petition so he DOESN'T serve all those years.

Fuck property. You can't take that shit when you die. This kids life is worth more than a stop sign.

Fuck taggers. They give real artists a bad name.

People seem to be really divided about the sentence. I guess the victims of his tagging couldn't tolerate it anymore, after the 3rd time.
But valid points have been made, such as that the cost of keeping him in prison for 8 years is going to cost a lot more than getting the graffiti off. And tagging is a light crime. And that it won't make him a better person.
I guess this is just one of those where you have to be there to know how badly he defaced the community. That guy at the end seemed to have no pity for the kid. Can someone be truly be annoying where a stranger will have no pity if he's sentenced for 8 years? Who knows.

ha idiot.

While damaging private property shouldn't be taken lightly, I really don't think that any amount of paint is worth 8 years of a person's life.

I vouch to redeem these acts of injustice by tagging up even more spots and proving that you won't be able to catch all of us. and if you do wanna sit and really think about how to catch the bad guys FOCUS ON CHILD ABUSERS, WIFE BEATERS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY CROOKED POLITICIANS!!!!

I vouch to redeem these acts of injustice by tagging up even more spots and proving that you won't be able to catch all of us. and if you do wanna sit and really think about how to catch the bad guys FOCUS ON CHILD ABUSERS, WIFE BEATERS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY CROOKED POLITICIANS!!!!

I vouch to redeem these acts of injustice by tagging up even more spots and proving that you won't be able to catch all of us. and if you do wanna sit and really think about how to catch the bad guys FOCUS ON CHILD ABUSERS, WIFE BEATERS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY CROOKED POLITICIANS!!!!

He'll get out early, along with the rapists and murderers because the states are going bankrupt and have early prison release programs. Hopefully he has to clean the toilets while he serves his time. That'll show him!

What ya'll are missing is this is not the Punks first go round.he made a choice to screw up again and again. this is what happens when you deside to be a criminal.

Once Again You Have Judged A Reflection Of Yourselves...

The American justice system has lost it's mind. 8 years for some amateur graffiti is excessive to say the least. They kept on stressing the importance of being a good contributing member to society but after 8 years with all the felons, he's going to come out of there with a lot of bad information and networks. He should have just payed the fine and done community service, maybe spend a little time in jail but not practically a decade..

The private prisons need more business, great justice system. (Sarcasm)
The better punishments would be to make this young man do some serious community work, maybe clean someone's graffiti.

kill him

What ya'll fail to see is they gave him every chance in the world to get his life together. He failed to do so. there for the state is going to give him A jail cell for him to think in. What he did is a crime Unless you own something you worked for you will not under stand. When those of you that are crying foul work and own some thing and some PUNK comes along and deface's it then you will under stand untill then Ya'll stay nice and warm under momma's apron.

Can't believe this system....

I guy gets ONLY 3 1/2 years in prison for having/creating/distributing CHILD pornography
( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6023749/Sex-offe... )

.. and this dude gets MORE yrs in prison for Graffiti/Vandalism?, meaning our children's safety is less important?

What do ya'll think?

ya'll can find me on twitter @JcOlivera

His thousands of damage is going to cost even more with the cost of keeping him in jail for 8 years times 3.

Wow, my fellow country men you have done this man a huge injustice. Tell me, do you believe after servicing jail time he will come out a better man?

I am of the belief he will come out worse. Not only do I agree that society will throw up to the way side but he will more than likely commit another crime.

I have to agree with other users at current, have him repaint all that he has done, put him under house arrest, and then make him do something constructive with his passion. And force him to study hard in school.

How can they call tagging graffiti?

great . now he gets to ride 8 years in prison at our expense . he could have joined the army and earned his keep in this country . and how's he gonna pay damages ? oh yeah , sell meth .

Kid should of left Texas a long time ago. He's lucky he didn't get the death penalty.

EXTREME TEXAS. EXTREME TEXAS. EXTREME TEXAS.

Oh good lets not pay for the following:

Proper education on parenting

Proper education for our children

After school activities

etc

lets just spend the same amount or even more on paying for the court fees and locking our children up in prison so they can really learn some new bad habits...

way to go United States you bunch of boneheads

8 years in prison for a few 'thousand' dollars in 'damages'... how damaging is grafiti? really? and how much does paint cost...

hell make him paint over it if he likes to paint so damn much. 8 years in prison seem like a joke.

WOW total bull shit, this isn't going to scare people from doing this, its just gunna make them more angry. I know im not going to stop. You people who are for this horrible sentence sound like a bunch of hillbilly's.

Horrible miss use of our justice system. It proves that if you have money and influence anyone can be thrown in jail. I think that Nike signs and advertisements pollute my day, I don't need my cities filled with that either, do I have the right to have them taken down, hell no. But to take a child's life for a victimless crime is crazy. Why not just make him paint over it. Let's start a petition for his release!

Watching the video fully, I fully agree with the sentence of 8 years. That kid has damaged lots of properties, 3 times he was arrested and given chances to redeem himself. Made lots of neighbors and people in the community angry. Cost them lots of money to cover up the graffiti.

Onemalefla, stopping cussing and using Caps Lock, try to have some decency at least.

America has fucking lost it.
You can even walk across the street without getting arrested anymore.
BOB FUCKING DYLAN can't even walk down the street without getting arrested, what chance do YOU have?!

I want to know what he would have got if he didn't accept the plea agreement. Life?

Come on people, this isn't Saudi Arabia or China! We can't ban spray paint.

I would ban handguns and small knives. If you are going to kill something, it should be readily apparent to anyone near you. LOL

apparently his life is worth more locked up.....40,000 a year......... they gotta get em all !

8 years is a long time!
i think making him pay for it and then maybe a few months in jail or a year of house arrest would of done the job.

And don't give me crap about someone's damaged wall. Paint is inexpensive compared to the life of this kid.

And when he gets out of prison, he won't have a future because he'll just be "Another Ex-Con" in the eyes of society.

No justice. Just us versus them.