Article: Jailed in red tape Cook County jail won't let go of inmates - even when it should, several prisoners contend.(News)

Byline: Rob Olmstead Daily Herald Staff Writer

Gilberto Villasenor Cervantes tried telling the Cook County sheriff's deputy he didn't belong in jail, that it was a case of mistaken identity.

The response?

"Don't act stupid. That's you, so shut up," recalls Cervantes, quoting the guard.

Cervantes' plea, that he didn't belong in jail, was probably one of many the guard heard that day, Sept. 23, 2003. The only difference: Cervantes was telling the truth. He really was the wrong man.

But nobody believed him. Cervantes, 33, of Harvey, would spend the next two months being shuttled from jail to jail by bus on a sort of underbelly ...

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