Seems like tough economic times play out in the courtrooms, too: A homeless man spent two weeks in the county jail for stealing food and some CDs, and an unemployed man falsified work time sheets. Both pleaded guilty to low-level felony thefts today in Sedgwick County District Court.
The homeless man, Brandon Smith, said during his plea that his house burned down, leaving him and his wife destitute. He later stole a loaf of bread and sandwich meat from a grocery store in May. In June, he’d also pocketed some compact discs. Judge Eric Yost granted a motion to reduce Smith’s bond from $10,000, releasing him from a two-week stay in the overcrowded county jail on his own recognizance.
The unemployed man, Jerry Goodman, said he had gotten some advance work orders from a contract labor company. But the jobs didn’t materialize. “They didn’t give me any work, and I turned them in as hours,” Goodman told the judge at his plea. He ended up collecting more than $1,800, resulting in a felony on Goodman’s record. He had been free awaiting his plea.
Both face probation at sentencing in September.