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Inmate, working as a trustee, stole cellphone to call girlfriend

Leon Marcus Burton, who is currently an inmate at the Marion County Jail, had been assigned to work as a trustee inmate inside the Emergency Management building which made him eligible to get an extra good-time deduction from his sentence at the rate of five days per thirty full days of work, according to a news release from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Not a bad deal ... considering the circumstances.

But 23-year-old Ocala man missed his honey.

So, while working as a trustee, Burton swiped a $180 cell phone to call and text his girlfriend, deputies said.

That's pure amore.

Guess Burton never figured out that cellphones leave e-trails, which make it easy for detectives to  trace his calls, leading them directly to his main squeeze, who then provided them with additional evidence, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Burton allegedly told deputies that he ditched the phone when he realized there was a search going on for it.

Now Burton is facing an additional charge for stealing to phone and he's no longer allowed to participate in the inmate work trustee program, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Hope that it's really true that absence makes the heart grow fonder because he just added more time ot his sentence.

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