Don Castner was already in danger of arousing the suspicions of the fashion police. But the 39-year-old Floridian got a taste of delicious irony when he was arrested Wednesday by the actual police while wearing a T-shirt that read, “jail sucks!”
Castner was arrested on charges of welfare fraud as part of a Manatee County sheriff's office undercover sting entitled Operation Meal Ticket.
Manatee deputies arrested 40 other people Wednesday and have warrants out for dozens more in the undercover sting operation.
Castner is accused of selling Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards to undercover agents.
Manatee Sheriff Brad Steube said some of the people caught in the sting said they were using money from selling the cards to buy "rock cocaine, drugs and alcohol."
After he was booked, Castner was forced to ditch his ironic T-shirt for more traditional prison garb and a mug shot.
There is a feel-good angle to this story. WBTV reported that the sheriff’s office used $9,000 in recovered food stamp money to buy baby formula for the Manatee County food bank.