Marty: A plea bargain is the best deal

No one has a lower opinion of career criminals than I have. I’d
like to lock them all up and throw away the keys; unfortunately, we
can’t afford it. Faced with the uncertainties of the justice
system, the cost of prosecution and incarceration, and the
questionable deterrence factor, a plea deal is often the best deal
for the public and that’s the situation in the case of burglar
Carlos Ureno.
No one has a lower opinion of career criminals than I have. I’d like to lock them all up and throw away the keys; unfortunately, we can’t afford it. Faced with the uncertainties of the justice system, the cost of prosecution and incarceration, and the questionable deterrence factor, a plea deal is often the best deal for the public and that’s the situation in the case of burglar Carlos Ureno.

San Benito County District Attorney Candice Hooper has taken some criticism over the plea deal with Ureno, 33, who was arrested in June during a burglary in the 900 block of San Benito Street. I believe she has done her duty by getting Ureno to plead no contest to felony burglary and the misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. As part of the deal, the DA’s office agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor charge of possession of burglary tools. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 1.

This is the kind of crime and plea that angers the public; the crime was blatant – a home break-in right in the middle of town – and the term “plea-bargain” smacks of a giveaway. I’ m certain that the police, the D.A., and the courts have no illusions about Carlos Ureno, but they and the public are stuck in a system where society pays plenty to punish the guilty. It costs about $48,000 a year to keep someone in a California state prison and that’s rising; Ureno, who has not been sentenced yet, has already cost us plenty.

The county sheriff and Hollister’s police budgets together total about $10 million a year. The primary job of the police is to deter and investigate criminal activity and arrest suspected persons. Those are preventive costs. Ureno was hurt while trying to avoid the police and he was treated at the hospital. Perhaps he had no insurance. And if that’s the case, as it often is, the public is also going to pick up the hospital bill either directly or indirectly.

Ureno was represented by a public defender. Again, the odds are that he is judgment proof; he probably has no identifiable assets because burglars often deal in cash. Last year the public defender’s office cost the county taxpayers $1 million, and Ureno is going to use some of that. If his case went to trial, he’d use a lot more.

During the year, the D.A.’s office is going to have to deal with other, more serious, crimes, on their $1.3 million budget. These include murders, gang related violence, sex crimes, child abuse, and all the rest. Those cases will all cost money to prosecute, lots of money; trials are expensive. A good D.A. will save money for the most serious cases.

It still might be worth fighting the case out in court and winning a conviction if we knew Ureno would stay there or that there was little chance he would re-offend, but that’s not likely. As a non-violent offender, he might get out in a short time under Assembly Bill 109; then he’d be sent back here on probation, or perhaps he’d be released to reduce overcrowding as ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Statistically, even a long prison sentence is not likely to deter criminals from re-offending and if you lock them up forever, there are many others ready to take their place in the burglary business.  The D.A. made the right decision, but there is something very wrong with this system; the criminals are doing the crimes and everyone else is being punished. 

Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.