Case Study J. B. A.

Charge: Retail Theft of $34.47 of liquor

Days in Jail: 235 (52 days longer than his eventual prison sentence)

Cost to taxpayers: $33,605

• 2 arrests as an adult, 1 arrest as a juvenile, 2 bookings into Cook County Jail. His 3 arrests are for: Aggravated Robbery, Burglary, and Retail Theft.
• 20-year-old J.B.A.’s most recent arrest occurred on May 22, 2014. The police were called for suspicious activity happening in a Walgreen’s parking lot. Two officers arrived and observed a car with 4 or 5 individuals inside. When we approached they saw three bottles of Vodka in the back seat. The bottles still had the security tops on and the individuals could not produce a receipt. J.B.A. admitted to stealing the bottles from the Walgreens. Total value of $34.47. He was charged with a felony Retail Theft and a Violation of Probation (he was sentenced to 2Y Prob Mar 18, 2014 for a Burglary from Oct 2013. He was out on bond during this case).

  He spent 235 days in the County jail on this charge and was sentenced to 1 year IDOC on January 12, 2015. This was his first admission to IDOC. When he arrived at IDOC, he was released onto parole the same day as a “turnaround” having already spent his entire sentence in the custody of the Cook County Jail. Furthermore, he spent an extra 52 days in excess of his sentence in the jail. These are days that do not count towards any sentence. In other words, over $7,000 was spent to house J.B.A. for days that did not count towards anything.

• Notes in the arrest report state that J.B.A. self-reported that he could not read but could write. When asked to give a written statement he was unable to do so.