SPARTA, Mich. (WOOD) — A drug-addled thief with 21 prior felony convictions is returning to prison for shoplifting and later trying to cash a check with a bogus ID that was flagged by an alert Sparta bank teller.
“I don’t need prison,” Jeremiah Edward Perez said during sentencing Wednesday. “I’m not saying I don’t need to be punished. I’m just saying please help me to get tools to change … to help me with this drug problem.”
Kent County Circuit Court Judge Christina Mims opted to send Perez back to prison. She noted that Perez was on parole when the most recent crimes occurred. This, after having received a certificate for completing a course meant to put him on the right path.
“You apparently did seek treatment and participated in a course, but after that course was completed, you then engaged in more criminal behavior,” the judge said…