quote:NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A man with no arms and one leg who wouldn't stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on felony driving and drug charges.
.....
"I'd just like to say I know what I did was wrong," Wiley said in court Friday. "I am truly sorry your honor. I am."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
.....
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Wiley said he's done driving.
"I'm beat. The white flag is up," he said. "You can only bang your head against the wall so long before it hurts."
posted
kicking a state trooper with his only leg...
the dude's got mo-jo that's for sure..
NaturalResources
posted
He seems pretty sincere.... I doubt authorities will catch this guy on the roads again.
bdgee
posted
I think that somewhere down the line someone missed the boat and steered this guy in the wrong direction by failing to appreciate the absolute determination and ability it must take to be so crippled and still construe means of living independently among normal people.
Here we see a guy that refuses to be pitied and demands the pride all of us with all of our parts should have and we punish him rather than applauding him. Tomorrow the same prosecutors (or their like in some other jurisdiction) that put him in jail will be telling some jury somewhere that some other disadvantaged person is scamming the government and refusing to work.
Maybe this guy should be giving motivational speeches.
I do see one hopeful note in the news report:
"Officers pursued, but called off the chase after eight minutes because they did not want to put others in danger, police said."