A lot has changed since Chet Witkins was sentenced to prison for assaulting young Bobbi Jo Johnson down by the creek in 2002. Witkins was arrested and sentenced to a thirty-year prison term was shocked to learn that police no longer enforce order in his home state of Minnesota.
“First thing I did was I done drove down to Bobbi Jo’s doublewide and let her know I’m back,” Witkins said. “She mouthed off, so I let her have it.”
Witkins was charged that night with assault but was released two hours later thanks to police reforms in the state. He was able to make dinner for the early bird at the local Golden Corral.
“I might just stop in and say hello to Bobbi Joe after desert,” he said while eating his baby back ribs.
In the inner cities, things are no different. Jona White was serving a 10-year sentence for mugging and slashing an elderly woman at Penn Station in Newark, New Jersey six years ago. His bad behavior in prison made him ineligible for parole, but when Governor Phil Murphy announced that all prisoners must be set free due to COVID-19, White got a second chance at a life of crime.
Three days after he was released, White relocated to New York City and now earns a living mugging passengers on the 4 train.
“Bail reform and COVID-19 prison release is the shizzle,” White, 41 said. “There ain’t shit these cops gonna do, cuz all I gotta do is start yelling, my hands are up, I can’t breathe and they get back in their squad cars and drive away. This new America is truly my American Dream…plus I’m getting my extra $300 a week from Uncle Joe.”
