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6

Polensek nemesis pleads guilty


During this summer, Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek (Ward 11) instigated a worldwide dialogue with one snailmailed letter. The object of his lack of affection was 18 year old Arsenio Winston and Winston’s predilection for getting into criminal trouble.

Debate swirled around a variety of issues: did or didn’t the letter show leadership, did or didn’t the letter further the kind of image Polensek’s neighborhood wants, is or isn’t Polensek interested in higher political office?

But for some of us, perhaps the most intriguing question has been: is Polensek right or not?

Here is Polensek’s prediction, as stated in the letter, as to the course Winston’s life would take:

There are only two places you will end up at the rate you are going – that is, prison or the nearest funeral home….Your fate is totally in your own hands; which, is a scary thought.

Evidence in support of at least one of the two Polensek-pronounced directions came this week. From the Plain Dealer:

Arsenio Winston, 18, who was sent a harshly-worded letter by Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of drug trafficking.

Winston faces up to two years in prison when Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Peter Corrigan sentences him Oct. 29, according to Ryan Miday, spokesman for Prosecutor Bill Mason.

That’s just over three weeks from now. What sentence do you think Corrigan should give Winston?

According to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas docket, the offenses to which he’s pled are felony drug trafficking offenses. Felony sentences in the Ohio Revised Code are here and here.

Hattip to Working with Words.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:28 pm October 6th, 2007 in Cleveland+, Culture, Government, Ohio, Politics 

Comments

6 Responses to “Polensek nemesis pleads guilty”

  1. 1 John Ettorre on October 6th, 2007 6:36 pm

    Yes, Jill, I was a little surprised at how little (if any) attention was paid to his guilty plea, given all the controversy leading up to it. And I almost agree with your take on this (at least as you outlined on Feagler), in support of Polensek, except for that closing “salutation” of his, “go to jail or the cemetary soon,” seemed pretty over the top.

  2. 2 Jill Miller Zimon on October 6th, 2007 9:50 pm

    John, why do you think it is that the court appearance got so little attention? Any conspiracy theories, or just otherwise occupied I didn’t see anything in the Scene’s C-Notes either.

    You know Polensek is a dramatic figure so that over the top thing – I’m sure it didn’t surprise you now, did it? :)

  3. 3 John Ettorre on October 7th, 2007 5:52 am

    The PD did carry it, which is where I learned about it. But no one else picked it up from there. Which goes to a problem with some bloggers, who have a self-induced blindness about newspapers. Present company of course not included.

  4. 4 Jill Miller Zimon on October 7th, 2007 10:51 am

    Yeah, I don’t subscribe to the PD print version but I receive every single emailed newsletter and have the RSS for a lot of the sections coming through Bloglines – plus I’m over at Wide Open and Open etc. But I still go back and forth on whether I should get the print version…it’s been almost a year since I let go!

  5. 5 John Ettorre on October 7th, 2007 8:08 pm

    It is hard not to miss some buried but important stories when you consume it all electronically, at least for me. And we’re really only talking about the Metro section anyway that contains the occasionally significant stuff. Still, too much fluff in that section as well.

  6. 6 Jill Miller Zimon on October 8th, 2007 9:16 am

    I agree completely with that comment, John. It’s why I go back and forth.

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