During the sentencing of Thomas DiFiore, a leader of the infamous Bonanno crime family, Stephanie Clifford of theNew York Times noted a trend: At 71, DiFiore is one of the “oldfellas,” a generation of aging Mafiosi who are now being prosecuted in the sunsets of their long lives of crime.
Many of these gangsters’ defense teams seem to be trying to use their clients’ old age to their advantage. “In courtrooms, they can be found displaying catheter bags or discussing the state of their kidneys in hopes that a judge will agree to a short sentence,” Clifford wrote. They tell tales to the court of their complicated prescription drug regimens, heart procedures, insulin shots, and catheters. (Not that judges are necessarily buying it; DiFiore’s “high blood pressure, stress, swelling of kidneys, swelling of skin, lung problems, vision issues” didn’t win him leniency in the end.)
But as cynical a ploy as it may be, these “geriatric gangsters” raise an important issue—the rapidly growing elderly prisoner population, and the exploding costs of caring for them behind bars. With advanced age inevitably comes chronic health conditions, prescription drug needs, and both physical and mental disabilities. None of which come cheap.
[For more of this story, written by Lauren Kirchner, go to http://www.psmag.com/business-...and-so-are-its-costs]
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