Crime does not pay

 

 Crime does not pay                                                                                   060610

            The other day I heard about a twenty-five year old man who was sentenced to twenty years in prison, (two ten year terms that run concurrently, meaning he will be in jail for ten years effectively) for stealing copper wires that belong to ZESA. What was sad about this story was that the young man was married with three young children, the youngest being only two months old. This child will spend the first ten years of her life without knowing how it feels to sit on daddy’s lap or to take a walk with him. What a pity.

            There are many who were arguing that the magistrate should have been more lenient with this young man for the sake of the child. Others were in contention that it should not be allowed because otherwise everyone with a new born baby may be encouraged to commit crimes knowing the judge will feel for him/her. The morale of this story is that whether you are caught or not; crime does not pay.

            I mentioned in an article not long ago that there are opportunities that are disastrous. When you see them you are excited that you are going to progress but the end is disaster. Crime is one such opportunity. The problem with crime is that there is always a great chance of success. Many people are not caught the first time. This success usually gives them encouragement to do more. They try again and succeed. Sooner than later they get caught and they find themselves with more than they want to handle. In the end the cost is more than one is prepared to pay.

            The Bible says that people will understand if a poor man steals to fill his stomach, but if he is caught he must pay back in full, even if it means with his own life. The young man I mentioned earlier said that he was stealing so that he could raise money for school fees for his eldest child. Everyone understood him, but now that he was caught he had to pay back for the damage he had done. Unfortunately for him the payment was more than he had bargained for. I hear he shed tears when the sentence was passed. But that was too late.

            There are many things that can be done to raise money to look after yourself or your family. All these methods are not as pleasant and easy as crime looks, but they are legal and safe. There is one thing that our corrupt society has done that makes it difficult to tell people that there is more to gain from legal means of getting money. Everyone now believes in instant success. A person goes down south across the Limpopo and the next month he brings a BMW. Young people who see that think cars must be cheap in South Africa. Cars cost the same everywhere in the world, and those who do not buy on hire purchase acquire them in illegal ways if they can afford them in a month or two. The fact that they succeeded this time makes them and others go back with the hope of another success. Sooner than later you hear that they were shot dead trying to hijack a car. The same end to all crime stories.

            You may not die literally but when you are caught on the wrong side of the law you will die somehow. What world will you come back to after spending ten years in prison? Imagine someone who went to prison in the year 2000 and coming out tomorrow. Will he/she manage in the world of today? What about the ten years of his/her life just gone to waste? They  forwill have to start all over again as a different individual. Is it worth it?

            When faced with an opportunity to commit crime, consider the fact that you may be caught. Count the cost. Someone was saying that when you commit crime do something that you will not regret when caught. It sounds like great advice but there are some who were shot when they were caught stealing billions. Sure they would have liked to spend a few years in jail provided the loot was not discovered and come back to enjoy it but they are dead now. Was it worth it? The gentleman we talked about had stolen copper wire worth about $450.00. Is that worth spending ten years in prison for? I guess he may be the only one who can answer that.

            For every criminal activity you want to engage in to raise money there is always a parallel one that is legal. You have to choose to sweat first and enjoy later or enjoy now and sweat later. The former is always better than the later. Do not be involved in crime because it has a way of keeping you longer than you want to stay; taking you farther than you want to go and eventually costing you more than you want to pay.