Incarceration and the Covid Conundrum

Who do we really need to lock up?

It wasn’t long after the world had first shut down everything in a vain attempt to control the outbreak, that my alumnus, MCC federal prison, caught its first case of Covid. Suddenly, the government had yet another serious issue to deal with: Who goes to prison — and who do they release!

As a felon in my late 60’s, I’m quite sure I’d never have been sentenced to a year and a day had my appearance before the judge come a year and a half after it did.

Let’s see. Defendant is geriatric. He didn’t hurt anyone. No way we’re gonna lock him up and risk a lawsuit when he gets Covid. I’d have been home free.

Of course, inmates like Michel Cohen and Paul Manafort were released to home confinement. It wasn’t like they were gonna come out and mug the first old lady they saw walking down the street alone.

And really, speaking of MCC, there were a lot of prisoners who hadn’t committed those kinds of violent crimes — and really wouldn’t have been warehoused in other civilized countries. But that’s a story for another day.

So now, the USA is faced with the question of who really needs to be locked up — and who the country is just wasting its taxpayer dollars by feeding and housing him or her.

I use two examples of my fellow co-conspirators from the New York State case in which I was involved. Two of my “colleagues” are currently in the crosshairs of the penal system. Both were the actual owners and profiteers. Every time a girl went in the room with a customer, they got 50% of the money.

The big owner served a year and a half and is now out and on parole. For reasons only she could tell you, the woman found herself in a whorehouse when the place got busted. She was charged with prostitution, a misdemeanor, and given a desk appearance ticket.

The undercovers who came in the joint didn’t know who she was at the time (as in recidivist and infamous New York madam). Upon discovering her identity, the charge was upped to promotion, an offense which could send her back to prison. She is understandably stressed out behind the situation.

So if you’re the authorities, what are you gonna do with this woman? She started swinging her big chest around at age 15, and has either made a living doing just that, or having an employee do the same for almost 50 years. She is incorrigible. It’s the only life and living she knows. She doesn’t hurt anybody — and never has. And she’s not about trafficking minors or anything along that order.

I have reasoned with her that without Covid, she’d have been thrown back in the clink the day after she got busted in that house. But now in her 60’s, the State has balked. Right there is the flip side of Covid for her.

But the question is: When Covid is over, are the authorities going to reincarcerate her? She’s been told to not go near the prostitution business and clearly has ignored those warnings. And she now lives life on pins and needles.

Common sense would tell you that the State (and Fed for that matter) are going to have a backlog of candidates for incarceration when Covid is finally under control. And they’re not going to have enough space to house them all.

And while I’m sure New York would like to put this woman back behind bars for disobeying their mandates, will they have room for somebody who they know isn’t going to assault or mug another person while she’s out?

Of course, telling her this only helps a little. I know what it’s like to live for 5 years wondering whether I’m going to go to prison or not. And it’s not a comfortable feeling. Only time will tell what will eventually happen with this woman. And she’ll live in fear for what could be years.

Owner number 2, though deeply involved in the conspiracy and a more or less morally reprehensible human being (for reasons I won’t describe here), has only served a week behind bars in total. And two and a half years later, he’s preparing for his 18th court appearance pursuant to the case.

Of the seven conspirators, he is the most likely and appropriate person to be locked up. Mind you, he wouldn’t mug anybody — and doesn’t pose a threat to the community. He doesn’t need to be inside like a few men I met at MCC. But his MO is not pretty.

I’m sure the State would like to lock him away for a couple of years. The police found drugs and distribution paraphernalia in his crib when they searched the joint. And he’s already had two children sent to foster care owing to the obvious. New Yorker of the Week he’s not!

So what do you do with this guy? He’s been living under a storm cloud for two and a half years! Will the cloud ever unload on him? Or will it move on leaving him free to continue on his intrepid path?

For her part, his mama (the woman who served the year and a half) sounds like she wants him to go. Her reasoning is that if she did a year and a half, he should too.

I’ve told her that if they don’t lock him up this time, they will the next. “Eventually, he’s gonna do some real time.”

And then there was the third owner who wasn’t charged even though her name was on one of the leases. Obviously, there’s your snitch. But I digress.

The point is this: Covid is keeping people out of jail. Some are defendants who don’t need to be there in the first place. Others are people walking the streets who actually are a threat to our safety.

When all this comes out in the wash, there are defendants who will avoid prison entirely owing to the pandemic. Some will save the taxpayer money. And others will rob the taxpayer if he or she isn’t looking. That’s the reality of the situation.

When I first moved to Manhattan, I had to walk down the street with my head on a swivel. Then it calmed down. And now? It’s coming back. Be apprised.