An inmate in a Florida county prison tried to keep his job at an ice manufacturer by getting his girlfriend to send his employer a letter saying he would be working with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the sheriff’s office says.
The poorly spelled and punctuated letter said he would be working with the Sheriff’s office “ATF investigation unit” for six months or less.
What made the sheriff’s department slap Marco Sullivan, 32, and his girlfriend Martisha Wilson, 46, with charges of criminal use of personal identification, is that the letter was written on Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd’s letterhead.
Judd told reporters at a news conference Aug. 11 that Sullivan, who was incarcerated on unrelated charges, first convinced his girlfriend to text his boss at Reddy Ice where he worked to say that he had the flu.
When he didn’t get out of jail as soon as he thought he would, Judd said, she called the supervisor and told him that Sullivan was working with the sheriff’s department on an investigation and wouldn’t be at work for a while.
The supervisor asked her for a letter from the agent he was working with if he wanted to keep his job, and she emailed him a letter that’s signed by a “Mike Singleton” at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Sullivan’s boss wasn’t fooled by the letter, largely because of the its poor spelling and syntax.
“Do to the severity of the case Im not able to enclosed no farther information,” read the letter.
