A 28-year-old man is facing 195 misdemeanor charges against him for allegedly illegally contacting a witness from inside Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Court records show George P. Benson IV, was charged with one count of first-degree unlawful contact of a witness for each of the 65 phone calls made from Jan. 19 to Feb. 14 of this year.
The second set of 65 charges is from violating conditions of release in a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault case from Haines last year, according to an affidavit filed by Assistant District Attorney Amy Williams. The affidavit states in that case, Benson was ordered by the court not to contact the same alleged victim.
The third set of 65 counts are also for violating conditions of release, but for a 2011 Juneau felony case in which he was charged with first-degree tampering of a witness. The affidavit states he was also court ordered not to contact the same person.
All 195 charges “represent the same set of phone calls from Jan. 19, 2012 to Feb. 14, 2012,” Williams said.
Court records show Benson is represented by the Public Defender’s Agency and is being held in custody at LCCC on $5,000 bail. He was arraigned in Juneau District Court earlier this month, and a jury trial is scheduled for late May, according to court records.
Violating conditions of release for a felony is a class ‘A’ misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine. First-degree unlawful contact is also a class ‘A’ misdemeanor. Violating conditions of release for a misdemeanor is a class ‘B’ misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in prison and a $2,000.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (8)
Add commentWay to go George!
That's gotta be some sort of record. I always knew you were going to amount to something if you really tried.....
Wow
65*90 days=5,850 days or 16 years.
65*1 year=65 years
This man could go away for 81 years for what he did-making phone calls to someone he should not have. Each phone call he made represents a maximum of 1.25 years in jail.
I think the justice system is broken. I don't agree with what he did but the possible punishment is excessive. He will not receive the full sentence but the possibility that he could is not right.
Amazing
To me its amazing that while in prison a person can make 65 illegal phone calls in two months. Perhaps the correctional system could find something more productive for inmates to do, even if it included manual labor. I thought prison time was for punishment and rehabilitation, not a place with room and board, television, phone calls and leisure time.
Toll calls anyone?
The question of Benson making illegal calls would be a moot point [irrelevant argument] most likely, if the inmates who have friends/family in Juneau, NOT be able to make FREE phone calls from LCCC...each of the dorms, male or female in the jail, has several phone booths in them. All day they are used continually until they are shut off at night. [I am not sure what time they get shut down] My point is if the phone calls by the inmates would have to be COLLECT calls only, I'm sure phone usage illegal or not, would drop significantly!!!
81 years?
Nah. I'm sure the DA's office will cut him a plea bargain and he'll get 2 years (suspended sentence) and 6 months probation.
@Yaffa,
The way things are going down at the DA's office, they might wind up owing him time......
Lock him up
and throw away the key!