Call it poetic justice. Or injustice, if you want.
We have received word that Gilbert Escamilla, the staff member of the Cameron County Darrell B. Hester Juvenile Probation Facility who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.2 million in fajitas over a nine-year span is now working as a trustee in the kitchen of the Rucker-Carrizales county jail in Olmito.
We've published posts here before echoing the sentiments of many readers who felt that the 50-year sentence Escamilla accepted in his plea bargain was way too much for the crime he committed. After all, there have been public servants – like former Sheriff Conrado Cantu, for example – who have been convicted to lesser sentences for what could be considered more serious crimes.
In fact, most murder defendants who accept a plea with the state get much less, say 20 to 25 years.
Be that as it may, the fact that Escamilla is doing trusty talacha while he awaits his transfer to the Texas Department of Corrections give us pause. Let's hope the y don;t put him in charge of ordering food for the inmates there. If he does, don;t be surprised if a Labbat's truck appears with 800 pounds of fajitas.