Many criminals that are easily caught and jailed is a result of them not concealing
their identity. In October of 2005 I was incarcerated for strong-arm robbery and put on
probation because the victim saw my face. The lesson I learned that year was that a mask
is the difference between jail and freedom.
My night began just like any other night at my house with no money and no
marijuana. I called my two friends over, Matt and Stephen, hoping they had either of the
two, but they didn’t. We began brainstorming on how to get marijuana, or money to buy
the drug. Stephen dug deep in his pocket, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and
said, “ I have this drug dealers number, I don’t really know him so we could rob him if
you guys want.” I’ve robbed many dealers before so I immediately said yes. As we all get
ready I thought maybe I should wear a mask but I figured since I’ve never met this guy it
really didn’t matter. The dealer met up with us and everything went as planned. Before I
knew it we were back at my house smoking our spoils. An hour later I hear a knock on
the door and it’s the police. I tried to tell them I was at my house all night and know
nothing of a robbery. The officer began to believe me until the drug dealer stepped out of
the police car and one by one pointed us all out. I thought to myself, “ I should’ve wore
a damn mask.”
We spent a couple months in the county jail and the judge sentenced us to five
years probation which I am still serving now. If I had concealed my identity this whole
legal trip could’ve been avoided. My family thinks my lesson learned was that I don’t
need marijuana in my life and that I should work for what I want, not just take it. The
only lesson I learned from this situation is that I need a mask when doing anything
illegal.
Crimes are committed everyday and half the time no one is accounted for them
because they’re done right. I’ve...