A New Mexico judge had a stern and stark warning for a young man convicted of robbery, telling him he would “probably be raped every day” in prison before putting him on probation instead.
Bernalillo County Judge Christina Argyres gave first-time offender Isaiah Gay a shocking reality check about what his 15 years in prison — for a series of robberies he committed with friends as a teenager — would be like, according to a transcript obtained by local news channel KOB 4.
Gay, for his part, was unequivocally remorseful.
“I did the things I did all because I was impulsive,” the 20-year-old told Argyres. “I was just being young and dumb.”
Argyres used this description of himself to highlight his vulnerability.
“Do you know what would happen … to a young and dumb person in prison?” she asked. “You would probably be raped every day, for one. And I hate to sound like that, you know, rude, but that’s exactly what would happen to you.”
Argyres did relent, however, and asked the State whether locking up the youngster for more than a decade was justifiable.
“Again, he’s going to be somebody’s — I hate to use the word ‘b-tch,’ but that’s exactly what he’s going to be … so I am willing to put him on probation,” she said.
If Gay violates his five-year probation, however, that 15-year prison term would still stand.
“You blow it, it’s on you, not me,” the judge said in her parting words to Gay.
[KOB 4]
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