Omar's profile is listed under "Omar Felony Boy Grant". Shakina's is listed under "Shakina JamariMommy Singleton". According to the news article they reside together in taxpayer subsidized housing at 236 Hanover Street.
Not much to see on either profile, so let's do the criminal history thing.
Singleton doesn't have any Charleston County arrests other than the current conspiracy charge. She was in court back in November on a rule to vacate filed by the Housing Authority. They were trying to toss her out of 236 Hanover Street. The status indicates settled. We are guessing she managed to stay since she is still using that address, but who knows. Isn't there a Housing Authority policy that requires them to evict tenants who use the premises for criminal purposes? Hmmm.....
Omar Grant is another story. An analysis of his history takes a lot more time. We have it on good authority Omar's criminal history started before he was even into his teenage years, but we will pick it up in 1996.
At the age of sixteen Grant was charged with two counts of Burglary 2nd Degree. Both charges were remanded to Family Court, so we will probably never know what the court decided.
Just after his seventeenth birthday Grant was charged with Grand Larceny. He pled guilty on 7 July, 1998 and was sentenced under the state's Youthful Offender Act to incarceration not to exceed five years and was given credit for four-and-a-half months he apparently spent in jail.
On December 27th, 1996 Grant was charged with Use of a Vehicle Without Consent. This charge was dropped at the same time he pled guilty to the above grand larceny charge. Note the disposition dates are the same. It was nice of the 9th Circuit Solicitor to drop this unrelated charge when he pled guilty to the other charge.
2 March, 1997. Grant was charged with Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle. The charge was dismissed in May of 1997. Case notes indicate the victim chose not to prosecute.
On 16 July, 1997 Grant was again charged with Use of a Vehicle Without Permission. He also pled guilty to this charge on 7 July, 1998. He was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act to a sentence not to exceed three years, to run concurrent with the five year sentence above.
Note: Someone ask Judge Rawl how it makes any damn sense to set one sentence to 'not to exceed five years' and another to 'not to exceed three years' and make them concurrent.
In October of 1997 Grant was charged with Burglary 3rd Degree and Petit Larceny. These charges were also bundled into his plea date of 7 July, 1998. He was sentenced to time served on the petit larceny charge. He was sentenced to another Youthful Offender Act sentence not to exceed five years for the burglary charge, to be served concurrently with his other two sentences.
For those of you who might be wondering about the purpose of the Youthful Offender Act, you can find the statute here. After we read through it we couldn't figure out why the solicitor or the judge saw fit to apply to it Grant.
Apparently Grant did serve some time in prison because his prolific record remains blank until 2001. In January he was charged with Distribution of Crack Cocaine 1st Offense, Distribution of Crack Within Proximity of a School, Distribution of Cocaine and Distribution of Cocaine Within Proximity of a School.
He went to court on 17 May, 2002. He apparently failed to make a court appearance prior that date because the dispositions indicate bench warrants were rescinded. The crack cocaine charges and proximity of a school charges were dismissed by the solicitor's office because Grant pled guilty to the cocaine distribution. He was sentenced to five years, suspended on service of of one year and one year of probation. He was given credit for 489 days he spent in jail. This sentence was set to to run concurrently with his YOA sentences above. Sheesh!
Grant was back roaming the streets in 2003. July brought charges of Giving False Information to Police. He lied about his name. He was convicted of that charge in magistrate court and sentenced to time served. He was also charged with Distribution of Cocaine 1st offense (despite his previous conviction for the same thing), Distribution in Proximity of a School, Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle, Kidnapping and Strong Arm Robbery. He pled guilty all charges except for the Kidnapping which the solicitor dismissed.
Grant was sentenced to only seven years for each of these charges with all to be served concurrently. Any logical person can see this basically amounts to less than two years for each felony he pled guilty to. We think this is extremely ridiculous, especially in light of his previous record.
Grant was back on the street in January of 2007 and started his criminal enterprise back up. He was arrested on 25 January and charged with Distribution of Marijuana, Distribution Within Proximity of a School and Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle. All of these charges were dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor "in the interest of justice." We asked a deputy what that meant and were told that Omar Grant turned rat in exchange for the solicitor dropping the charges. We hope it was worth it.
In March of 2008 Grant was charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct With a Minor 2nd Degree. The solicitor chose not to prosecute for unknown reasons. The case notes tell us to "see file". Well, Scarlett, show us the file.
June of 2010 brought a charge of Property Crime Enhancement. Our research shows this is a felony charge the legislature passed with the intent of hammering serial property crime offenders. Grant pled guilty and was given the unbelievable sentence of two years, suspended on service of fourteen days and two years of suspended probation. What??????? Judge Hughston really has lost his mind.
This past March, Grant was charged with Forgery with a value less than $10,000. Even with his previous record Judge Lombard set a bond of $25,000. She's lost her mind, too.
Question - where does someone shacking up in government housing with his young girlfriend come up with that kind of money to get out of jail? We couldn't do it and we work our asses off to provide for our families.
Our review of Omar "Felony Boy" Grant's history leave us unsettled. Low bonds, light sentences and a complete lack of consideration of his history when setting either are readily apparent. What say you, citizens?
Im sure Im not the only one who thinks this is bullshit..
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Dixie Furniture Company is going to keep him around for the publicity?
ReplyDeleteNope, you aren't. I actually had someone tell me the prisons/jails are over crowded and that is why they are released and have charges dropped. My thought is this, who the heck cares! Pack them in their like sardines, prisons and jails are not 5 star resorts, who cares if they are sleeping on the floor or have a pillow, I darn sure don't. Feed them once a day and turn off the air. Make them farm from sun up to dark and grow their own food. They should have thought about their comfort before breaking the law. These law breaking thugs are not golfers, they should not be constantly getting Mulligans. This crap really pisses me off in a huge way. If anyone comes up with any ideas how to hold these judges accountable let me know, I'm in!
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I'd enjoy very few things more than being able to hold judges accountable. I don't see that happening anytime soon, although I have one idea that might help. Have the injured citizen and his friends and family write a few letters to the judge describing what happened to them and what they'd like to see happen to the criminal. I actually did this and got some positive results from my efforts - read about it as you like in The Start of Something.
ReplyDeleteNot all judges are like Judge Lombard and Company. That being the case, judges do pretty much anything they want without fear of repercussion or responsibility. The reason for this is a lack of public involvement. If a few citizens wrote letters in support or opposition, the judiciary might begin to get the message - especially if those letters were written in support of good behavior.
Anyway, that's what I think. I'm glad this site is up and running.
First, I must say, I LOVE Judge Rawl. His court is one of the most well organized and professional in Charleston county. (Unlike Deborah Summey's).
ReplyDeleteI know this isn't going to be a popular sentiment, but maybe they set the bonds at an amount they think the offenders can afford b/c some money is better than none. In a way, forcing them to contribute to the public system.
On the other hand, I agree with packing them in. Let them pay their bonds, then lock em up nice and tightly packed. Some people can't afford basic cable at home, and three healthy meals a day, but they can have it in prison? Gross.
Omar Grant is not employed by Dixie Furniture Co.
ReplyDeleteOmar Grant is not employed by Dixie Furniture Co.
ReplyDeleteMad Jack. That's awesome!
ReplyDelete