For a 73-year-old Canadian man, 20 months in a smoke-free jail looked just too long, so instead he took 24 months in a prison where he can smoke cigarettes.
Angelo Foti was sentenced to 20 months for shooting and wounding a man in his backyard who was trying to repossess a snowmobile sold to Foti’s son, the Winnipeg Free Press reported on Tuesday.
In court on Monday, Angelo Foti was agitated when he realized the sentence would mean he would be in a provincial jail, where smoking is banned, the newspaper said.
Foti’s lawyer pleaded for a 24-month sentence instead, which means the man will go to a federal prison, where smoking is allowed.
In accepting the longer term, Foti, a dedicated pack-a-day man, ignored the wishes of this family.
“Dad, they’re just cigarettes -- give them up. Quit smoking: you’ll be healthier,” his son Angelo Jr. said in court. “Just take the 20 months.”
