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leija, an admitted gang member, has proven to be more violent on the streets. originally charged with first degree murder, he eventually pled guilty to second degree murder in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. he is eligible for 75 years in prison. i shot a man six times in the face. no matter how much of a gangster i am, what i think i am, i struggle with that say when i first got here. like i struggled with that for real. if i could go back, change some things, i still would have shot him. but i wouldn t have hit him in the face and i wouldn t have killed him. according to prosecutors, leija and his co-defendant met a 43-year-old man at the home of a mutual female friend in order to sell him five pounds of marijuana. instead, leija drew a gun and attempted to rob the man. he reached for it, boom, ....
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. i ve always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free. it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. ....
now housed in a single-man segregation cell because of a fight he was involved in, leija has plenty of time to ponder past decisions. man, i got some good letters, too. steven sutherland, however, is housed in a general population unit where he s around other inmates. and for him, that carries a risk. for anyone to know that i used to be a deputy here potentially could be dangerous for me. i m in a medium-high security area, where these inmates are potentially going to prison for 15 years to life. if it was ever perceived i was part of the system, somebody may take advantage of that. 20 years earlier sutherland was a kent county sheriff s deputy and was even assigned to the jail in which he s now housed. he tries to keep that a secret, because when ex-law enforcement officers go to jail, they re often targets for attack. there s at least one inmate in here that knows i was a ....
sutherland s upcoming transfer to state prison is fine with at least one inmate. zach thiele. honestly, i 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. 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? so we know how to cover almost anything. even a swing set standoff. ....
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, 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 sentence of this court, mr. leija, that you be committed to the michigan department of corrections for a term of not less than 22, no more than 75 ....