Portable Prison Cell
George Jolicoeur, 38, has a long criminal history. His most recent five charges, for felony thefts, were recently put to rest with "no contest" pleas filed by his attorney. As far as we can tell, all of his crimes involve food.
In the most cases, the Sanford, Fla., man would buy food and then claim there was something wrong with it: a hair in his milkshake -- six times!, the $50 worth of beef jerky was "moldy", etc. After eating most of it, he'd then demand a refund or other compensation.
But in the last five cases, he was too ill to attend court, his attorney said. At 600 pounds, Jolicoeur is so obese he needs a respirator to breathe. He is now in a nursing home.
At the time of his original arrest, the officer noted that when he knocked on Jolicoeur's door, he "heard what sounded like a male trying to cover his voice as a female. This person stated that Jolicoeur was not there. I could hear a female voice inside of the residence stating, 'George, just turn yourself in.'"
Assistant State Attorney Kyan Ware offered a plea bargain: plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and pay court costs and restitution, and the state would go for no jail time or probation -- which, of course, would save the state huge medical expenses in caring for him. On March 31, Jolicoeur's attorney accepted the deal.
"He's in his prison cell," Ware said. "He's not getting out of that bed."
Huh uh. His bed isn't his prison cell, his body is.
Sources: Orlando Sentinel, police report
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Posted by bandit, albuquerque on April 25, 2010:
Greg: There are a number of acts that people first decide to do (for whatever reason) that alter brain chemistry - basically dopamine levels. Once the brain chemistry changes, they have a disease - there is something physically wrong that cannot be changed without real medical help. For a good (extreme) case, read up on meth addiction - very nasty. "Just Say No" ain't gonna work once the brain chemistry changes. Simply put, all mammals (tested to date, including humans), will ingest meth until they are about to die. They will stop, get healthy, then start back on the meth. Cycles continues until broken, either by death or real treatment.
Nicotine is also really nasty. It is a good example, because the effects of smoking are well known, and quitting is hard and can take many attempts. (Curiously, according to Dr Frank Etscorn, inventor of the nicotine patch, nicotine by itself has no negative physical effects, other than overdose. You know you have overdosed when you die; the LD50 is pretty low.)
The physical changes in the brain is the reason addiction is a disease - and the reason the War on Drugs is doomed.
And - most people start these addictive behaviors because they are in pain, and are looking for a way to stop the pain. Not to be happy (although it is a goal), but at least to be numb and out of pain.
Addictions can be drugs (alcohol, smoking, the illegal ones), or actions (gambling, porn/sex, extreme sports). Moderation is possible, part of the issue is where you are on the Gaussian curve. Roughly 12% of a given (large) population will have an addictive personality, meaning their brains are pre-disposed to chemical changes.
Remember - the Bible teaches that *love of money*, not money itself, is the root of all evil. Greed can be as addictive as crack, and the last couple of years has shown the high cost of greed - far more damage than crack addiction.
One of the serious cultural issues in the US is seeing addiction as a sin. In earlier times, with small populations, seeing such behaviors as sin helped folks from *starting*, but we have some real science to tell us what is going on. And yes, I do hope folks do not start on the path to addiction, but laws do nothing to solve the problem.
Oh - BTW - I am a fundamentalist Christian, although I might need to reach for my GOOHF card after this comment.
Posted by Neil, Cheshire, UK on April 26, 2010:
Greg, please read exactly what I wrote rather than letting your self-confessed illness brought on by righteous indignation convince you that I am "giving the weak willed a pass". I agree that it's his own stupid fault. The consequence is that he's made himself ill; by saying that, I'm not claiming that he's been infected by a pathogen, just that, as Bandit has so ably explained, changes that mere willpower can't reverse have taken place in his body. The point of this story, I feel, is that biology will impose a greater (and juster) punishment than the law would.
Gluttony is a sin. Morbid obesity is a symptom. Metabolic syndrome is the disease. You see, I can cope with technical terms too.
Incidentally, treating the fact that someone is a left-winger as a criticism in and of itself doesn't suggest that your views in general are particularly balanced.
Posted by Sabra in CT on June 27, 2010:
"Assistant State Attorney Kyan Ware offered a plea bargain: plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and pay court costs and restitution, and the state would go for no jail time or probation -- which, of course, would save the state huge medical expenses in caring for him. On March 31, Jolicoeur's attorney accepted the deal."
Not necessarily. Most morbidly obese people are considered "disabled". That means that they are now being cared for by Social Security and Social Security Disability. If you are entitled to those, then you are most likely entitled to State Medicaid. Either way, we end up paying for this scammer.
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They didn't say it'd save "taxpayers" the money, they said it would save the state the money. Thus, the state shoved the expense onto the feds -- every taxpayer, rather than just their state's (assuming he is on disability). -rc