Willie Wilson Gives Get Out of Jail Free Cards to 6 Cook County Jail Inmates

CHICAGO — Not every inmate at Cook County Jail is a stone-cold killer. For some in the facility, it's poor judgment that lands them behind bars and a lack of financial means that keeps them there.

That's the thinking behind Chicago businessman Willie Wilson's decision to spend $15,000 of his own money to cover the bail for jailees locked up on misdemeanor charges, according to reports. He shelled out $2,850 on Thursday to cover the bail for six Cook County Jail inmates, WBEZ-FM News reports. Initially, 14 inmates had been chosen to be the beneficiaries of the 2015 mayoral candidate's act of compassion and generosity, but eight of them had already posted bail or resolved their cases, the report added.

And Wilson didn't stop there. He also gave those six inmates $200 each, money they could put toward rent, food or other expenses, according to ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

"These are people who are in jail because they can't come up with $100 or $200 in bail bond money." Wilson, 68, told the Chicago Tribune earlier this week. "These aren't serious criminals—it's folks who got caught with a small bag of marijuana or who were hungry and stole some food from the store."

That description would fit the cases of Russell Miller and Dontelle Mohead, first-time offenders who benefited from Wilson's kindness, ABC 7 reports. Miller was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge and had been in jail 12 days because he couldn't pay his bail. Mohead was in the same situation, unable to cover his $500 bail after an identity theft arrest three weeks ago, the TV station added.

"Just the other day I prayed at night to God that everything would be alright and the next morning, five people came in, called my name and here I am now," Miller told ABC 7 at a press conference Thursday, Sept. 15.

Wilson had been working for several weeks with the Cook County Sheriff's Office to develop this plan, the Tribune reports. The law enforcement agency, which fully supported Wilson's proposal, gave the businessman a list of 50 inmates who were without money, had bail amounts of $1,000 or less and who would likely respond positively to an outside support program, WBEZ reports.

Wilson, who made brief run at being this year's Democratic presidential candidate, still plans to spend the remainder of the $15,000 he pledged on more inmates who fit the criteria he and the sheriff's office mapped out, according to WBEZ.

And this might not be a one-time-only activity for Wilson. He pledged to spend $50,000 of his own money on another group of misdemeanor inmates next year, WBEZ reports.

More via WBEZ-FM News, the Chicago Tribune and ABC 7 Eyewitness News

photo by Patch Editor Tim Moran

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