Gilberto Escamilla, 53, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for stealing $1.2 million worth of fajitas over the course of a decade, the Brownsville Herald reports.
Escamilla, a former employee of the Cameron County juvenile detention center in Texas, had taken delivery of the food in spite of the fact that the minor inmates are not served fajitas.
Authorities were alerted to Escamilla’s behavior when the Labatt Food Service driver phoned ahead to the detention center’s kitchen to confirm the delivery of 800 pounds of fajitas.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the kitchen worker who answered the phone informed the driver that they didn’t serve fajitas. The driver then let it slip that he had been delivering fajitas there for nine years. Police then found packages of the stolen food in the refrigerator when they searched Escamilla’s home.
Escamilla admitted as part of his plea deal that he had taken the fajitas and delivered them to his own customers. “It was selfish. It started small and got bigger and out of control. It got to the point where I couldn’t control it anymore.”
Cameron County Assistant District Attorney Peter Gilman claimed that this case stood out from other theft cases he had prosecuted, with the total amount stolen reaching a staggering $1,251,578.
Gilman requested the 50 year sentence, saying that theft should never be tolerated — but that it was especially egregious when it was perpetrated by a public servant. “We feel a strong message should be sent.”