Leonardo Onescu
Harris County Jail, Houston, TX

When Leonardo was arrested for shoplifting less than $100 of merchandise, his bail was set at more than 150 times that amount. He waited 5 months pretrial before he could post bond, during which time he faced long delays in receiving his prescribed mental health medication.

I’ve been down here for three and a half months. I stole a pair of pants and a $32 phone – the total was like $56. My bail was $15,000.

My family is really devastated that I’m in here for $56, and they want to give me 9 months. Ma’am, I’m guilty. But you want to give me that much time for $56? No way.

I haven’t seen any sexual assaults. But I’ve witnessed a lot of physical assaults. My concern is with the CO’s working. They will knock your teeth out easy.

On the mental health – it’s whenever they get to you. If you drop enough requests -- someone will see you. And they say make an appointment, but that’s like months away.

I suffer from PTSD and bipolar. It’s hard in here for people to get the proper medical attention. Took me 3 ½ months to get mine [medications] the way they need to be. If you don’t have no one on the outside, you’re stuck.