Marshall Redman’s Sentence

Swindle the elderly out of their retirement funds, or the well-to-do out of their savings, and the judicial system will see to it that you do some serious jail time and have to pay restitution to your victims.

Swindle the working poor out of the money they need to house, feed and clothe their family, and the county of Los Angeles will see to it that you get grounded for several months and have to pay a small fine. (“Redman Will Serve Jail Time at Home,” Dec. 22).

Marshall Redman will have to stay home for a year after pleading . . . no contest to grand theft and the filing of false documents. But because of his age, lack of a previous criminal record and the fact that he did not commit a violent crime, he will not have to serve out his sentence in jail. It’s nice to know that L.A. has a senior citizen and good behavior discount. I may have to do what Marshall Redman did when I get downsized in my later years and get desperate for a few million dollars.

What I would like to have recommended was to have Redman serve his one-year sentence in a 25-year-old mobile home on one of his own properties alongside his victims. No water, no electricity, no gas and no sewer. That would have been a just punishment. Isn’t that how we treat the slumlords in this county?

Shame on everyone in our legal system involved with this case. You have all proved that a double standard does indeed exist for the citizens of our state. It’s not how or what you steal, it’s who you steal it from.

TERRY L. LONG, North Hills