A morbidly obese Canadian inmate has been released months ahead of schedule because his prison was not adequately suited to hold a man of his girth, a parole board said. Michel “Big Mike” Lapointe, 37, had pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in February and in May was sentenced to five years in prison, less 20 months served awaiting trial.
But a judge later reduced his sentence because of hardships the 195kg man claimed to have endured in a prison designed for smaller criminals.
Last week, the Quebec Parole Board granted him early parole, saying in its decision he had been jailed for 25 months under “difficult conditions due to his health.”
PHOTO:AFP
The parole board also noted that two halfway houses had refused to take him in, and that he was well behaved during his incarceration.
Lapointe, a former accountant for a drug-trafficking ring, would not normally have been eligible for parole until February 2009, but according to his lawyer Clemente Monterosso, his health was deteriorating.
His jail cell bed was 25cm narrower than his body and he could not even sit on a chair, Monterosso said in May.
“Finally it’s over,” Lapointe told the daily Journal de Montreal. “I want a normal life. I made some mistakes and I paid for them.”
“Now, I will finally have a decent bed and a chair I can sit on,” he said.
(AFP)
加拿大某假釋委員會表示，一名有病態性肥胖的囚犯由於牢房空間不足以容納他的身軀，因此提前數個月獲釋。
綽號「大麥克」、現年三十七歲的麥可．拉彭特今年二月坦承販毒罪行；五月，他被判處五年有期徒刑，而他羈押待審的二十個月可折抵刑期。
但一位法官稍後縮短了他的刑期，因為這名體重一百九十五公斤的男子聲稱，他得忍受被關在設計給正常體型囚犯的囚室內。
上週，魁北克假釋委員會批准他提早假釋，裁決書中指出，因為他已在「對他身體健康不利的環境下」服刑二十五個月了。
假釋委員會也特別說明，兩間中途之家都拒絕收容他，而且他服刑期間表現良好。
之前在販毒集團負責管帳的拉彭特，照理來說，得到二ＯＯ九年二月才能提出假釋申請，但他的律師克萊門特．蒙特羅素說，他的健康情況日益惡化。
蒙特羅素五月時表示，單人囚房的床比他的身體還窄二十五公分，他甚至連椅子都坐不進去。
拉彭特向《蒙特婁日報》表示：「這一切終於結束了。我想回歸正常生活。我之前犯了錯，我也為此付出代價了。」
他說：「現在我終於有一張像樣的床，還有一張我可以坐的椅子了。」
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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