Celebrity Ass of the Week: U.S. Government
I watch those weird prison documentaries on MSNBC. I’ve seen COPS. And I worked for a newspaper for several years. There are drug addicts and bar brawlers and even suspected murderers who wander into court looking all pretty and shackle-free.
Which is why the treatment of race car driver and reality show-alum Helio Castrovenes is so insane.
He pleaded not guilty Friday to federal tax evasion charges. He, his sister and his lawyer were indicted by a grand jury on Thursday. The other two didn’t enter pleas Friday but were ordered released on bail of $2 million and $250,000, respectively.
But Helio got the full force of the U.S. government in all its nastiness.
They dragged the driver shackled in handcuffs and leg chains into the court room.
That’s right. A guy who may have just filed his paperwork wrong or had a shitty accountant was bound up like Jeffrey Dahmer.
Castrovenes was visibly weeping into a wad of white tissue. Outside, he acknowledged he was overwhelmed by the weight of the moment.
“It’s been a long day. It’s been an emotional day, obviously,” he said. “I am not guilty.”
He was released on $10 million bail (yes, that’s plenty and that’s appropriate for a guy with a lot of money who can easily flee the country). But handcuffs and leg chains for a guy who’s crying into his Kleenex?
Yes, tax evasion is serious. It’s the crime of such criminal masterminds as Al Capone. But I’m pretty sure that Castrovenes isn’t going to make a mad dash from the courtroom or belt the judge and jump out the window.
That was completely unnecessary and overboard. I have a feeling a sheriff or a judge is up for re-election and wanted to make a show of pounding the poor guy into the ground.
It’s scary enough to face five years in prison. You really had to grind him into the ground first? Make sure he was suitably humiliated along the way? That’s why you, U.S. government, are the celebrity ass of the week.
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While I agree that the U.S. Government is one BIG ASS, perhaps Helio Castrovenes got “uppity” with the law enforcment in charge of bringing him in, causing them to restrain him in a fashion reserved for the “real” criminal.
I don’t know where I am going with this comment, so I will quit while I am behind.