The band leader took us out for drinks before the gig, so...
I thought it was perfectly fine to have a beer or 3 on the gig.
Makes sense to me anyway...
However what transpired was not what I expected...
I was told by the band leader to basically stop drinking even though he'd took us out for
drinks before the gig so I called him on his hypocrisy...
We argued about it, I apologized by email...twice...
and then got a check in the mail $150 short of what he promised to pay me and then called me basically a racist and a few other threats...claiming I'd breached contract except there was no contract for the gig and nothing was signed...I finished the gig btw every last note to the end of it...
This band leader happens to be an Immigrant to this country btw...
This immigrant band leader then called me a a racist and "I will teach you how to treat immigrants"
to which I said my mother is not white and how dare you call me a racist since my own family CAME from Hispanic immigrants to this nation which I can trace back to Spain hundreds of years ago...
Long story short I let this band leader get to me getting angry and shorting my pay and went to a bar and drank too much too fast...
And was pulled over...I've admitted my guilt and sin to the Lord and asked His forgiveness and He has done that...
Spending 4 nights in the Jail on Fourth of July Weekend 2018, the first night was with about 20-25 others in a crowded lockup, the second night in the Jail proper with a 30 something white man, the third night with two young men about twenty years old and then was released the fourth day at about 7 pm. This all happened over the Fourth of July weekend 2018.
My Trial was moved 3 times and put off until January 2019 for different reasons, and I finally faced a Judge in County Court where I was told I had spent two days in Jail when in reality I was there 4 days as I stated earlier...from this I learned that the Jailers lied about how many days I spent in Jail and I did not find that out until the trial.
I had a Public defender who I'd talked to maybe 5 minutes before the trial, she was nice but of little help and I read a statement to the Judge How I admitted what I did was wrong, said I was sorry, explained how I was ripped off by a band leader, got angry and drank too much, but admitted my guilt, and asked for some understanding as my son had just died and would like to be able to get my license back ASAP, as well as some mercy in my situation...I was shown very little mercy by this Judge who I learned from a few websites that she is extremely biased in favor of the prosecution...as she was in my case...
I learned that public defenders are so busy with probably 25-30 cases a day that they are of little help if any, and I also learned that Money talks in these situations...If you have money or your family does
for a high powered expensive lawyer you will get half the sentence or less than the poor man who cannot afford a high powered lawyer...I met a man in work release who's family had money and was able to hire a high powered lawyer from Denver that received a much lighter sentence than I got for a much more serious offense...
My sentence was 28 days in a Work release facility in spite of the fact the Jailers lied and had me in the Jail 4 days not 2 days, almost $ 4,000 in fines, court ordered alcohol classes, 2 years probation, and 80 hours of community service.
I began my work release sentence in February which was an eye opening experience to say the least...And I've written a song called "Unjust Justice" about my experiences in this situation I've found myself in...
I work as a crossing guard for Schools and have for almost 7 years, but I'm also hired by the Police dept. which is an anomaly as almost NO Police departments hire their school crossing guards but here in this town they have for years. I learned in work release that that put me at risk being hired by Police in a lock up situation with criminals of different types like a car thief, a drug dealer, a meth addict, an assaulter, a convicted robber and other assorted types of inmates. Most were like me in work release for a misdemeanor...
As I heard their stories and listened to them, some of
these men had been in and out of Jails, Prisons, and work release since they were teenagers and a few were as old as 70.
I had compassion on these men and prayed for all of them while I was in that facility even though some of them absolutely hated me knowing I was an employee of the police dept., which I did not tell them btw, instead I told them I was hired by the school district which is also true.... Yet they seemed to know who I was hired by...
I learned that the men in Jails and Prisons and work release are "Street Smart" meaning, they know what's going on on the street, they know the cops by name, they know a lot of what's going on on the "Street" and they knew me and who I worked for...I was not liked by several in that facility...
One night while I was sleeping on my metal bed some personal property of mine was stolen...a cell phone battery charger I plugged in every night and put right by my pillow.. it disappeared and in place of that I found two earrings that looked like cubic zirconium or possibly even diamond...
Someone was plotting against me to get me to report this theft and therefore cause a Guard "Shakedown" of our sleeping room thus turning everyone in the Pod against me falsely saying I was a Snitch or informant...
I threw the earrings away and did not report it to the guards blunting their plans...They still thought I was a Snitch which was completely false...
One man in I prayed for numerous times in particular in my "Pod" as they were called or sleeping room with about 16 bunks made of metal with a thin green pad and 3 blankets, was a Hispanic man of maybe 30 or younger and reminded me a lot of one of my Uncles who had died 45 years ago...and looked a lot like my Uncle.
This man did not like me at first as many of them did not as I read my son Juan's bible at the end of my metal bed I had taken in there...
Some men bristled as I read that bible I'd sent to my son...others didn't seem to mind...
The man across from me told me he was a Catholic, and I told him I was raised a Catholic, but then began playing music in Protestant churches and did so for 25 years as the Catholic church didn't use Saxophones in Worship...I also told him I had played at Pope John Paul's World Youth Day back in 1993 even though Saxophone was considered "Non Liturgical" by the Catholic Church...By the end of my 28 days in work release that man that hated me for reading my bible 4 times a day on the end of my bed told me he was going to Victory Outreach Church In Greeley on Sundays with his mother...
I chose a "Life Verse" over almost 25 years ago for the ministry and work God has put before me, a bible verse that encapsulates what the ministry the Lord has given me is all about..
"For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost..." Luke 19:10
The thrust or focus of my ministry has been reaching people for Christ that are not typically reachable by the recognized Christian church, from talking to sound men and light men about my faith while traveling in a Christian Rock Band in the 1980's, to playing music in Jails and Prisons in California or Colorado, to reaching thousands of people on the web or social media with my music, to reading the Bible that was my sons while being hated and disliked by hardened men in a work release facility, this is the job the Lord has appointed me...
Don't hate me I'm just the Sax Player. : )
