Life term for 29-year-old thief who stole $60, cigarettes
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - A 29-year-old man can expect to spend the rest of his life in prison after a Snohomish convenience store robbery that netted $60 and eight packs of cigarettes.
Keith Puett was sentenced Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court as a three-strikes offender.
The Daily Herald reports he had two previous convictions for assault and pleaded guilty to robbery for the armed hold-up last January.
Keith Puett was sentenced Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court as a three-strikes offender.
The Daily Herald reports he had two previous convictions for assault and pleaded guilty to robbery for the armed hold-up last January.
I sure wish Oregon would follow suit. We need to put these crazies away for good.
Pfft. pretty mild, actually. In some countries this guy would be missing an arm at the least.
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Hell, in some countries they'd stuff him in a barrel, douse him in gasoline, and light a match.
HAHAHAHA, check this guy out:
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http://www.seattlepulp.com/stories/Life-sentence-stealing-cigarettes--183435391.html?tab=gallery&c=y&img=3
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What a loser, lol.
Three hots and a cot for the rest of your life. What a deal!!!
cancer sticks arent allowed in prison. i wonder what he will be thinking in 2 weeks.Â
It's unfortunate this article states Keith Puett was sentenced to life in prison for stealing $60 and cigarettes. The truth is he committed an armed robbery, which is a PERSON-TO-PERSON crime. The severity of the punishment is perfectly reasonable given the trauma caused to the victim, in this case a store clerk who had to endure a gun shoved in his face and threats by Puett that he would shoot him. The value of the items stolen has nothing to do with the sentencing.
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Per the article, Keith Puett has a history of violence toward others, and this is merely his most recent conviction. I for one will be happy to see this turd sit in the tank for the rest of his pathetic little life.Â
I agree they could have worded it differently, but I think heir point was that he is a dumbass. Knowing the next time he got busted it would be life, he took a chance for a few bucks. Anyone who is only 29 years old gambling with life in prison like that IS a dumbass. If I was 80 years old with nowhere to live, well sure.
I'm not defending him, but, why would you plead guilty in exchange for life in prison?
Who cares. Let him rot. Make it a one strike league.
Looks like he got what he wanted...to be taken care of his whole life.
Justice is served in this case. Â
Well, folks, for all those who are down on the "3-strikes law"... (and there IS some merit to your objections)... please consider:
-- We're not allowed to shoot them (no death penalty for crimes like this)...
-- If we let them out, they go right back to robbing people, etc..."career criminals"...
So does anyone have any useful suggestions for an effective "middle-of-the-road" solution? Â What do we do with these repeat offenders?
Me? Â I think maybe we need a return to sentences involving "hard labor"... Â I think one of our problems is that somehow, the "basic necessities of life" has been expanded to include TV/cable, gym equipment, movies, and so on... Â Perhaps if the inmate's life "inside" wasn't better than many people these days can afford "outside", being "inside" wouldn't be quite so appealing... Sheriff Joe's ideas aren't ALL bad...
@margay1 Hard labor? unfortunately that is now considered 'cruel and unusual'! if it isn't cruel and unusual, they will not get the message!
 @Mike_J  @margay1 However, we could kill two birds with one stone.  Illegal immigration is a costly problem yet hard to rectify because of the cheap labor they produce.
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Swap out one illegal immigrant with one prisoner. Â Make the labor cheaper for the prisoner to cover overhead costs. Â BAM! Â problem solved. Â but that would require common sense. Â A trait that is increasingly becoming more scare these days.
He should of stopped being a criminal. He knew what he was going to get and did it anyway!
From another article here:Â http://bit.ly/12nu9JP)
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"The judge on Wednesday said he had no choice but to sentence Puett to life in prison. In 2002, Puett pointed a gun at two people, earning him his first strike. Two years later, he severely beat a man using a wooden post. He was convicted of second-degree assault. The final strike was earned on a snowy Wednesday morning when Puett and his friend, Shane Moy, pulled masks over their faces and stormed into a small store in Snohomish. Puett pushed a gun in the owner's face, demanding money and threatening to shoot the man."
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Don't feel too bad for this scum.
These 3 strikes laws clearly are in violation of the 8th Amendment. I'd be surprised if this guy and every person serving time for 3S infractions aren't eventually released. They should be.
This bendejo has TWO armed robberies and one beating that almost killed a guy. And that is just the crap he got caught for. It may have been just a matter of time before he killed someone.
 @Old29 so are you on your way to your third strike?
Stupid law. It will cost the tax payers more to ruin this guys life than to provide him a vocational education and enroll him as a taxpayer. Stupid.
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This is the kind of world that results in a society that allows Corporate Prisons.
@Icarus I see what you're saying, but the flip side of your solution is that all you have to do to get a vocational education is to commit a bunch of crimes. WTF did I pay for mine for?
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@Icarus Yea this man certainly deserves a free education and freedom for all he has done. You speak about a world, what world is that exeactly?
Bye Bye Dummy!
I agree Oregon needs this law but I believe there should be a cheaper(for the tax payer) answer for petty Criminals,
Group housing with some type of volunteer "Job" , just like the county jail guys do. In summer working a community garden, fall raking leaves for people, winter cleaning street drains. Even fighting fires, Whatever, wherever needed. A crew of them spiffing up the yard for the elderly or disabled.
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It is supposed to cost so awfully much to keep people house in prison, wouldn't it be much less expensive to house non-violent people this way? I include drunk drivers in this. While they stupidly committed a violent crime they do not say I will just intentionally hurt this/these people.
Why would he plead guilty on his third strike. Just sayin.
@shorin my question exactly.
Oreogn needs this law.
 @RalphCramden Don't think so, Ralph. Put them somewhere and make them WORK for their upkeep instead of just locking them away and babysitting them till they drop dead.
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here's no reason they can't spend their days spit shining guardrails or cleaning street signs or cleaning out culverts to earn their keep.
 @Mikey Â
I have no problem with that but it costs more to run the program than it saves. Plus lifers are high risk for escape.
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Some sort of in prison business would be good.
 @RalphCramden No it doesn't. This punishment comes no where NEAR fitting the crime. These 3 strikes laws take all thinking and reasoning out of sentencing, and leave the judge with no reasonable options. They're stupid Kevin Mannix-type political posturing laws, and cost way more than any benefits to society they may produce.
At least this offender won't offend again. On the other hand, that he likely will become a temporary media sensation, he may still end up out by Christmas.
And I hope he enjoys prison.
 @MFMFIM In the pecking order, he only get released after everyone else is released, including those on death roll.  By pleading guilty, he gives up his right to appeal.  Only someone else can appeal, based on something like the use of "improper police or court procedures".
Just a bit overkill in the sentencing. These stupid 3-strikes laws are filling up prisons for otherwise minor offences. Granted an armed robbery is one thing, but to put this guy away for life???Â
 @JamieÂ
If he commits two crimes a year the cost of investigating, charging him, going to trail, will exceed the cost of keeping him in prison.
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A trial can cost $30-40,000 easily. The judge, jury, investigators, lawyers paid for by the tax payers, clerks, prosecutors, paperwork, probation officers...and a lot more.
 @RalphCramdenHot dog 30 to 40 k per trial man I can't wait for jury duty .
 @yaquinaÂ
If you run your cursor next to the "flag" option at the bottom of the post the "delete" button will show up.
 @RalphCramden sorry for the double post and do not to erase it.
 @RalphCramden Man 30 to 40k per trial....jury duty sounds lucrative today!
 @yaquinaÂ
You get paid almost nothing. The selection process is expensive (voir dire).
 @RalphCramden  @Jamie I agree.  Court / jury cost is very high, and they would rather "plea bargain" than go to trial.
 @JamieÂ
The cost of selecting the just is very expensive. It's called voir dire and can take weeks depending on the crimes. I have been on a jury and it took 2 months to get the jurors.
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The jury interview is usually short but behind the scenes they look at every juror in detail and make a decision as to whether they are acceptable or not. Then there is the cost of contacting each juror. All this takes time and can cost hundreds of dollar per hour to make the jury happen.
 @RalphCramden The jury cost? They pay people $5 / day. How is that expensive?
 @xilef regnu  @RandyH  @JamieÂ
Works for me.
 @RalphCramden  @RandyH  @JamieÂ
Since they pay prisoners at a rate less than Chinese workers, why can't we start making some ipods over here in American prisons?
 @RandyH  @JamieÂ
Putting away career criminals is a cost saving measure in the long run.
https://www.facebook.com/keith.puett/photos_stream
 @gbudavid Looks like a real wiener. Must think he's some kind of native or something, but I'm sure his ancestors are rolling over in their graves at his disrespectful ways.
@gbudavid WOW....Looks like he's spent plenty of time in prison already.
I kind of think any automatic sentencing that over-rides a judge and jury's discretion is rather idiotic. Now this guy gets three hots and a cot for life, courtesy of taxpayers. It's one of those things that punitive minded people don't think through. We're always going to have minor crimes perpetrated by mentally ill and terminally unintelligent people. Is 60 bucks and a carton of smokes really worth putting a man away at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars? Also, what attempts were made by the legal system to try to rehabilitate this man before his third strike.
To say that 3 Strikes laws are "idiotic" and that people who agree with them are simply "punitive minded people who don't think through" is inaccurate and dismissive, and reflects more poorly on you than anyone else.
lfishsum said it best below: "Habitually violent people like this cannot be allowed to roam free and terrorize the people around them."
 @r Do you have any research to back up the argument that 3 strikes is a cost effective way of dealing with these situations?
 @RandyH  @r Your comment is very constructive.  I disagree with the law, laws can be changed...  Do you just eat whatever sh.t gets handed to you or do you like to question the why and the what?.?.
 @darren vandervort  @r Its the "LAW" stupid, whatever you think has no value to society.