dude right here use to get up a few years back but dude caught a vicious case.........
STOCKTON - A man described as one of the most prolific graffiti vandals in the city was sentenced Tuesday to state prison, an almost unprecedented penalty that prosecutors hope serves as an example to other taggers.
Nicholas Hernandez, 21, who sprayed walls all over the city under the pseudonym "Meat," pleaded guilty to felony vandalism in January.
Under a judge's sentence, he will spend 90 days in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation before returning to serve the remainder of his yearlong sentence at the San Joaquin County Jail.
In addition to his prison term, Hernandez will pay $9,000 in restitution to Caltrans and a other $2,000 to a south Stockton business he vandalized. Further damages owed to the city have not yet been calculated.
San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Janet Smith said she knew of no other case in which a convicted tagger was sent to prison. Smith said that to some extent, Hernandez is being used as an example to other vandals.
"He is a part of why people do not feel comfortable in this city and why we can't get business in this city," she said. "They are making us look like a citywide ghetto."
Hernandez is likely to spend his state prison term at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, Smith said.