A Florida court handed down a 20-year sentence to a man accused of stealing ten cartons of cigarettes from a convenience store, valued at $600 total.
The theft happened in the store manager’s office, and the suspect was apprehended shortly after with the cigarettes still in his possession.
While many quickly jumped at the severity of the sentence, it should be noted that the suspect, 48-year-old Robert Spellman, was already well known to authorities and courts, with a total of 14 felony and 31 misdemeanor convictions on his record before the theft of the cigarettes.
His reoffending nature was the main factor that provoked the Pensacola jury to issue such a harsh sentence, and as can be expected, social media immediately jumped on the situation, with many accusing the court of being biased in the case.
However, that is not the case right now — even if there might have been some bias in the sentence, the decision was mostly based on the suspect’s criminal past.
On the other side of the spectrum, some are questioning why someone with so many convictions on their record had been allowed to roam free in society for so long and being taken to jail over something so seemingly trivial in the end.
It should be noted that Spellman is also facing charges of domestic battery, the result of a January incident.
The divide that the sentence has caused is likely going to only grow stronger in the coming weeks as the discussion continues, as many people seem to have rather strong opinions about the viral story.
One defender of the man argued, “Unbelievable! I hope an attorney see this post & help him‼️”
There has been no comment from authorities regarding the situation yet, although that is not likely to change.
The case has sparked interest around the globe and a real conversation about criminal justice reform.
