Man pleads guilty in torture case, gets 10 years

Source: Miami Herald

Man pleads guilty in torture case, gets 10 years
Posted on Fri, May. 02, 2008
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com



Manuel ''Insane'' Balbin, accused of torturing a fellow gang member over a stolen PlayStation 2, pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Balbin, 23, had been charged in Miami-Dade Circuit Court with attempted murder and kidnapping.

''It seems this is a fair result all the way around,'' said Jason Grey, his defense attorney. Police say Balbin in October 2005 tied up a 17-year-old with RCA cables, beat him, shot him with a pink-painted rifle, shot his right testicle with a Taser stun gun, carved gang initials into his back and torched him using deodorant spray and a lighter.

He accused the teenager of stealing his PlayStation 2.

Balbin and two other gangsters later dressed the teen in a tube top, forcing him to steal beer from a gas station market before releasing him.Balbin, reputed leader of Little Havana's Satan Disciples, will also serve two years of house arrest after his release.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/518689.html

...just think what would have happened if the kid had stolen a PlayStation 3??!!

For God's sake, have we descended so far?

As a guard, not as a prisoner...

what a strange detail