I was reading a local newspaper today about the capture of a fugitive who has been on the lam for 20 years. This man apparently was arrested for smuggling tons and tons of marijuana into the port in his fishing boat which had been specially rigged with false walls to conceal drugs.

For a few years the attorneys went back and forth, but he then skipped town, not even telling his wife or family where he was going. On a tip, they investigated and found him 3,000 miles away in California. He’d been living a clean life with a new wife and spent time golfing when not working. He’d never been in any trouble.

Now, they want to extradite him back to this area and put him on trial, I guess. But, why? He’s a man in his mid-60’s and he’s living a trouble-feel life for the past 20 years. Sure, he did something wrong, but should the state again spent millions of dollars to put him on trial, then probably jail him at an expense of $40k per year, when he won’t be around that many years?

Part of me knows that if he did something wrong, he should be punished for it. But, another part feels he went on the straight and narrow and deserves a break. He didn’t kill anyone, right?

Our prisons are overcrowded as it is. They’re building new jails around the country to house all the criminals, and don’t they say that 80% of the crimes are drug-related in one way, shape or form?