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sutherland can do is wait and try to amuse himself. >> this is what i have in my cell upstairs. it goes on here like this. it gets boring. you have to have a little fun. >> coming up. >> when he came babblick from c, i was eating dinner. he was like, it's over. >> joe leija hears from his co-defendant and the news clears the way for his long awaited sentencing. and. >> sutherland knows me and i think he was trying to play on that during our hearing, bringing me back to the days when we worked together, trying to work on my feelings. >> an officer hands down a decision on his former colleague and soon after so does the judge. ♪
then i could just easy put it in my ear. just like that. it makes me feel like sort of free in a way, even though i'm not free. gives me a better feeling about being here. >> leija says one thing he isn't feeling better about is leaving witnesses behind the night he murdered another man. >> some other gang bangers, man. >> real cool! >> according to prosecutors, leija met the man at the home of a mutual female friend to sell him drugs but attempted to rob him instead. >> i should have killed the lady and her son. her son was 18 years old. he was my age. but i didn't. i just left. so when i got booked they were calling me a ruthless killer, i had no remorse, and this -- if i didn't have no remorse and i was a ruthless killer, i would have killed that bitch, and i would have killed her son. >> do you regret not killing them? >> absolutely.
better than me being on my own right now. i hate to say that but -- >> sutherland's upcoming transfer to state prison is fine with at least one inmate. zach thiele. >> honestly, i just don't want him to get out in the world again, or even with someone else in the jail. because that just ain't right. it was a nice time. obviously i can shower in peace now, not having to worry about him coming up every time i try to shower. coming up -- >> i'm very proud that i came to this jail at a time where the corrections industry in general was moving away from a culture of violence. >> a retiring captain reflects on 25 years of change. and a gang member finds out what his future holds. >> mr. leija, anything further you'd like to say before i impose sentence? t home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind
plays out for joe leija. >> i'm going to get sentenced today. i'm ready to get it over with. i don't have to apologize to the victim's family, but i'm going to. i think it looks better, shows that i am sorry. >> move to the right, guys. everybody has to fit in there. >> made me realize the damage that i have done to this family. i have a lot of regrets. this is one of the biggest ones i have is to kill somebody, you know. >> people versus joe leija. >> i'm going to have a lot of family in the courtroom. my parents are going to be there, my mom, my dad. my aunt, my uncle, my brothers and sisters. it makes it way easier for me. >> as the proceedings get under way, the victim's mother takes the podium and reads her statement to the court. >> i still don't understand why you had to pump six bullets into my son. it just goes to show what a cold-blooded killer you really are. it seems to me taking a life came way too easy for you. now i wonder how many other lives you may have taken with no remorse.
but instead, leija drew a gun and attempted to rob the man. >> he reached for it, boom, grabbed it, went off two times, one, two, hit him in his chest. by that time, i wasn't thinking. i feel like -- it just -- snapped. i shouldn't have done what i did, but i did and he was done when i shot him two times. when he went down, i stood over him and shot him six times in the face. the aftermath of the scene, it was -- it was bad. and i'm not proud of it in any way. but i know because i was there, i did it. he barely had a face when i was done with him. >> leija has been at the kent county jail since his arrest 26 months earlier. even though he has pled guilty to second-degree murder, he has yet to be sentenced. his judge cannot hand down the sentence until his co-defendant's trial is complete. and that has been dragging on for two years. >> is there anything that you look forward to? >> some fresh air.
>> joe leija goes to court and gets an earful. >> you shot my son. rot in hell because that's where you deserve to be. >> and -- >> i was deputy sheriff at kent county for about five years. i worked in training. i worked as a corrections officer. >> he once patrolled these housing units. now he stands accused of a heinous crime.
you didn't just shoot a person. you shot my son. you took a very big part of our lives away and that piece of the puzzle will always be missing. i hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life. even that will be too good for you. brad didn't deserve to die the way he did. he died a very violent and lonely death. no one should have to die that way. rot in hell, mr. leija, because that's exactly where you deserve to be. you need to be off the streets so you can't hurt anybody else. i pray the court agrees with me and you get life in prison. >> when the victim's mother is finished with her statement, leija has an opportunity to read his apology. >> mr. leija, anything further you'd like to say before i impose sentence? >> no, your honor. >> so, mr. leija, mandatorily on felony firearm, it's the sentence of this court that you be committed for two years to the michigan department of corrections. consecutive to that and on second-degree murder, it's the
originated, and that's what i did. >> in the meantime, all sutherland can do is wait and try to amuse himself. >> this is what i had up on my cell upstairs. it goes on here like this. it gets boring. you got to have a little fun. coming up -- >> yesterday when i came back from court, i was eating dinner, he told me through the door. like, it's over. you know. >> joe leija hears from his co-defendant. and the news clears the way for his long-awaited sentencing. and -- >> inmate sutherland knows me and i think he was trying to play on that during our hearing, bringing me back to the days when we worked together. tried to work on my feelings. >> an officer hands down a decision on his former colleague and soon after so does the judge. r instead of your brother. hey. oh. that's my robe. is it? you could save seven hundred eighty two dollars
really. it's not that strong. i'm always going to be a mobster and i don't regret it, i don't, because i had a good time. >> leija is now cleared to be sentenced and it is likely to be soon. steven sutherland, who 20 years earlier was a deputy here at the jail, still awaits trial on his charge of criminal sexual misconduct with a minor. now he's also facing disciplinary action in the jail for allegedly making inappropriate comments to another male inmate in the showers. the sergeant, who worked with sutherland when he was employed here, was assigned to investigate the accusations. they came in the form of two kites or notes from two different inmates. >> inmate sutherland knows me, and i think he was trying to play on that during our hearing, calling me by my first name, kind of bringing me back to the days when we worked together, tried to work on my feelings. and i recognized what he was trying to do. >> if an officer was to say that
i haven't been outside in 26 months and 3 days. i have not been outside and breathed the air. this is the air i'm breathing, from these vents. >> as an adult, leija has had prior convictions for possession of marijuana and assault and battery. before that, he had numerous stays in the county's juvenile facility. >> i already had my hands on a gun when i was a very young age. like i grew up too fast, man. running is streets, smoking weed, stealing cars. a lot of people said my mom wasn't a good mom, my dad wasn't a good father. but that's not what i'm saying. i'm saying i wasn't the best kid, you know. >> roll, salad, cake. same thing we get every day. >> that's why we're fat. >> we are. we're the fat group. >> over in the women's wing of the jail, vicki groth admits she hasn't always been the ideal good kid either. while her crime didn't physically injure anyone, it might have still been painful for her young victims.