Story Archive

An Institutional Man

Federal prosecutors admitted that the sentence they were asking a judge to impose on Walter Unbehaun “would seem to be rewarding him for precisely the behavior we seek to deter.” But that didn’t deter them from seeking it. Unbehaun’s criminal record stretches through bank robbery, home invasion, car theft and more, all the way back to 1963. Unbehaun is 73 years old, and uses a cane after surgery to replace his hip. Nevertheless, the government says, Unbehaun stuck up a suburban Niles, Ill., bank in February, and explained himself to the FBI: he “wanted to go back to the only life he knew — prison life.” So the six-to-eight-year sentence prosecutors proposed might not be much of a punishment, but they still saw a reason to give it to him. “Unbehaun,” prosecutor Sharon Fairley told the court, “lacks the desire to lead a law-abiding life outside of prison walls.” (AC/Chicago Sun-Times) ...Home is where they know your ... prisoner number.