and this guy got the same sentence.....but a way better excuse
check out his excuse at the end of the article.....
Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Shoplifting
POSTED: 2:35 pm CST December 15, 2005
UPDATED: 10:18 pm CST December 15, 2005
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A judge sentenced a Kansas City man to 10 years in prison for shoplifting groceries, liquor and cigarettes from a grocery store.
Ulysses Wright, 44, has 23 prior convictions. He pleaded guilty Nov. 23 to four misdemeanor and two felony counts of stealing.
According to Platte County prosecutor Eric Zahnd, between May 23 and July 3, 2004, Wright filled a grocery cart at a Hen House supermarket on North Chatham five different times with various items. He then pushed the cart out of the store without paying for the items.
A surveillance camera captured Wright jumping over the customer service counter after filling a U.S. mailbag with several cartons of cigarettes.
Zahnd called Wright a serial shoplifter.
"This defendant's crimes may not have been earth-shattering; he only got away with a few hundred dollars in merchandise each time. But his criminal history is simply awful. After 23 convictions over 2.5 decades, it is time this man understand that even shoplifting will be taken seriously," Zahnd said in a news release. "At some point, you have to draw the line in the sand and that's what we did in this case."
Zahnd said Wright told investigators he was stealing the cigarettes to sell them so he could buy crack.