The Jailing of Francesco Portelos

Nelson Mandela. Eugene Debs. Mahatma Gandhi. Andrei Sakharov. Ho Chi Minh. Bobby Sands.

Pussy Riot. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

These political prisoners are now joined by a new name. Francesco Portelos.

On February 25, 2014, Francesco wrote a post on his blog; "How to 'Hack' the DOE Payroll Portal and Give Yourself a Raise." When you read this, and you will be laughing your tushy off,  you will come to the realization that a brain damaged monkey would come to the conclusion that Francesco's post was tongue in cheek, sarcastic, and satirical.

Sadly, the folks at the DOE and the NYPD are not as smart as the aforementioned brain damaged monkey.

On Monday, March 10, 2014, at 10 AM EDT Francesco was forced to turn himself in to the detectives at the 84th precinct in Brooklyn which so happens to be the local precinct for our friends at 65 Court St. Thus begun Francesco's odyssey.

Francesco spent the next 13 hours in the holding cell in the precinct with having nothing but a bag of Doritios (Dependable sources have shared with The Crack Team it was nacho cheese flavor) for sustenance. He was then shackled with other prisoners and bussed to Central Booking on Schermerhorn Street and spent the next 20 hours locked up in a cell.

A cell in which he was put was filled with crack addicts, child molesters, and mean people. Twenty hours of just cheese sandwiches. Twenty hours before he saw a judge. Thirty hours of holding it in.

When he went before the judge, Francesco came across the first adult in almost 2 days; the assistant district attorney, who saw it was all bullshit and dropped the charges.

Is this what has become of the DOE? It now imprisons teachers who speak their minds? We expected something like this under Uncle Mike and Sock Puppet Klein, but now?

The Crack Team has come up with a theory. It could be that the 7,000,000,908,000,344 lawyers know that their days, and their hold on power, are coming to an end with the millions of dollars spent soon diverted to the students. Can this be an example of their last hurrah?

When The Crack Team reads and hears about what legal at the DOE is capable of, what they do, they think of The Rainmaker. To paraphrase Rudy Baylor;

 We're just wonderin'... do they even remember when they first sold out? 

Whatever became of the rule of law? Upholding the United States Constitution?  The Bill of Rights?

Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press

 This is not open to debate. There are no gray areas.  Francesco had his right abrogated. Worse, he was violated.

And not just with his rights being stripped away. He was charged with a misdemeanor;

S 195.00  Official misconduct.   A public servant is guilty of official misconduct when, with intent to obtain a benefit or deprive another person of a benefit:   1. He commits an act relating to his office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of his official functions, knowing that such act is unauthorized; or   2. He knowingly refrains from performing a duty which is imposed upon him by law or is clearly inherent in the nature of his office.

Why did Francesco spend 33 hours away from his family? Why could he have not received a desk appearance ticket at the precinct?  The only reason one can assume is that someone wanted to send a message and intimidate him.

Francesco has two little boys and they were without their daddy for almost 2 days. Was this fair to them? Was it fair for the angst his wife had to go through? God forbid, what if Francesco was violently assaulted? Does anyone in the DOE have a conscience anymore?

Two things have been on The Crack Team's mind. Why did the NYPD so easily do the bidding of the DOE, and who out there actually thought they could intimidate Francesco?

The persecution of teachers must end.

Oh, and be sure to read Francesco's more detailed account of his 33 hours on his blog!