18 year-old Penelope Soto of Miami failed to follow this sound advice when appearing before Judge Jorge Rodrigues-Chomat. Soto was being charged with illegal possession of Xanax and Soto was in the process of setting bail. Soto appeared to be having a good time, and even though Judge Rodriguez-Chomat was annoyed he set a standard bail of $5,000. Soto then laughed and said “adios” to the judge. His Honor was less than amused and called her back. He raised her bail to $10,000 which prompted Soto to ask, “Are you serious.” The judge told her he was very serious and responded with his own, “Adios.”
Following this exchange she turned away and gave the judge ‘the finger’. He called her back once again and charged her with contempt of court and sentenced her to 30 days in lockup.
Soto went from a $5,000 bail to $10,000 plus a month in prison because of her lack of common sense… It appears she will have plenty of time to think about how she will behave when facing the judge next month.
Thoughts?