Story Archive

Let Them Eat Cake

Alfred Casas, 31, a corrections officer at the Bexar County, Texas, jail, admits “I’m stupid for bringing those tacos.” In exchange for drugs, prosecutors say, Casas smuggled the food into the jail for an alleged double murderer who is facing the death penalty. But, Casas insists, he didn’t know one had a hacksaw blade in it. What would be the point of smuggling a “cold-ass taco” to a prisoner if it wasn’t to smuggle something in, asked Richard Escobedo, the detective who broke the case. A search of the “high-risk” inmate area turned up evidence of the escape plot: jailers found a rope made from a bed sheet, orange jail uniforms dyed with coffee to look more like civilian clothing, and a sawed-through metal plate over a window. Casas, a three-year jail employee, faces up to 20 years in prison for two counts of accepting bribes for delivering the contraband tacos, and up to 10 years for providing an implement for escape. (RC/San Antonio Express-News) ...That’s harsh. No one should ever have to suffer for more than one year per taco.