Gang Author Faces Life in Prison

Colton Simpson, author of Inside the Crips: Life Inside L.A.’s Most Notorious Gang, was found guilty of robbing a jewelry store on Monday. “With 10 previous convictions for serious crimes, the 41-year-old man could face life behind bars when he is sentenced Sept. 28,” reported the Los Angeles Times.

Prosecutors used passages from the book to illustrate Simpson’s character. “I love doing jewelry licks… It gets so I go in alone, ask to see a Rolex, grab two, dash out the store, turn them around, and have eight thousand dollars stuffed in my pocket,” Simpson wrote. The judge limited the book portions that could be used, forbidding violent robbery and gang-related text from being introduced into court.

Just a few weeks ago, a writer in Germany was arrested when authorities noticed his book “contained intimate details of the murder that could be known only to police.”

It sometimes gets irritating that every human being on this planet (along with a smattering of dogs and goldfishes) is writing a book these days. In these cases, some aspiring authors might be better off keeping their stories to themselves.