An innocent man pleaded guilty to a drug charge to get out of jail.
An Oklahoma man who pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine last week had his conviction dismissed days later after lab results determined the white substance he was arrested for having was not drugs.
It was in fact powdered milk he had gotten from a food pantry, he told a judge.
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Jason Lollman, a public defender in Tulsa, told NBC News that he's accustomed to clients pleading guilty — even if they're not — to get out of jail because otherwise they're "forced to sit in and wait" before and during their trial.
"The cash bail system, posting cash bail, is a problem," Lollman said. "If they can’t afford an attorney, they're not going to be able to post bond to get out."
There have often been "times where I’ve actively talked a client out of taking a plea bargain," Lollman said. But "if the client wants to take that plea, I really can’t stand in the way of it."
"Sometimes it’s like we, the attorneys, have more stamina than the clients do," he added. "But that’s because we’re on the outside and they're in jail."
Specifically, Lollman's colleagues have relayed to him that the Oklahoma City Jail, where Gregg was held, is a "generally awful jail."
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