One New Mexico judge recently scared a young thief straight by telling him the sad truth about prison rape and abuse.
Twenty-year-old Isaiah Gay was standing before the judge Tuesday, awaiting his sentencing for committing several burglaries 2 years ago, when Bernalillo County District Court Judge Christina Argyres asked him what he thought could happen if the 15-year jail term he was facing was ordered. According to NY Daily News, the young man assumed he would be beaten, but Argyres let him know that things could get much worse.
Gay, a first-time offender, expressed remorse for his actions. “I did the things I did all because I was impulsive … I was just being young and dumb,” he told Argyres.
But the judge wasn’t satisfied with his response.
“Do you know what would happen to a young, a dumb person in prison? …You would probably be raped everyday, number one,” she said. “You would be beat up every other day.”
The judge then reminded him that his offenses were actually similar to what he would be subjected to in the pen.
“The issue with residential burglary, again, it’s almost like a rape, because it is such an invasion and such an intrusion on somebody’s life and their property,” Argyres said.
The judge said she did not want Gay to experience the horrors of prison, so she gave him 5 years probation instead of putting him behind bars. She added that if he did not behave while on probation, he would be sent to prison.
Argyres added, “Again, he’s going to be somebody’s — I hate to use the word ‘b-tch,’ but that’s exactly what he’s going to be, and I don’t want to destroy Mr. Gay’s life.”
