Man In Jail For 40 Years After Robbing Taco Shop With Water Pistol Seeks Clemency

A 70-year-old Arkansas man who served 40 years in prison is awaiting a decision on his clemency application. He was sentenced to life in prison for robbing a taco shop with a toy water pistol in 1981.

Rolf Kaestel, who turned 70 Wednesday, was 29 years old when he robbed the shop and stole $264. He was charged with aggravated robbery and was sentenced to life in prison, along with a $15,000 fine in 1981. His clemency hearing is scheduled for September.

He has requested clemency three times since 2012. But the pleas were denied each time.

In 2014, Dennis Schluterman, the manager of the taco shop, had appealed to then-Governor Mike Beebe seeking Kaestel's release. "He needs to be set free. I believe the state owes him, that's just what I feel. It's time for you to let him go … he should not spend another day in prison," said Schluterman in a YouTube video. "This is heavy on my shoulders for quite some time."

The severity of the sentence and continuous dismissal of clemency requests remains a mystery but some attribute it to Kaestel's participation in a documentary based on a scandal over inmate blood sales in Arkansas prisons. Between 1970s and 80s, the Arkansas prison system profited from selling blood plasma through a program that allowed inmates to donate blood for money. The blood samples were allegedly not tested for hepatitis or HIV and were sent to various facilities in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Japan.

The blood scandal led to at least 2,400 deaths in the U.K. and receivers of the blood in Canada got infected with HIV and Hepatitis-C. Kaestel shared some key data about the lack of testing of Cummins Unit inmates for hepatitis C and HIV with Kelly Duda, the director of the documentary "Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal." Duda believes Kaestel is being kept as a political prisoner.

Rep. Vivian Flowers (D), who is advocating for his clemency, said Kaestel has been a role model and has served as a paralegal to other prisoners. He had previously filed lawsuits to uphold the rights of prisoners and gain some privileges for himself and fellow inmates. "Statistically he's no longer a threat—he's 70 years old," she said. "He should not die in prison because he robbed someone with a water gun. He paid his debt over and over again."

Arkansas Department of Corrections' Interstate Compact stated that he never violated prison rules in these years. He has earned several college credentials and an associate degree while in prison. Kaestel is currently lodged in a prison in Utah.

Kaestel is awaiting a decision on his latest clemency application from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who denied his application in 2015, reported WJHL.

"The parole board has given their recommendation, and that’s important, but the decision rests with the governor," said Flowers. "He [Hutchinson] believes in second chances, he’s focused on criminal justice reform, and with the civil unrest that has happened … at this time justice can only be served and let [Kaestel] out as a free man."

High-profilers such as actress and activist Rose McGowan, CNN commentator Van Jones, music executive Jason Flom and GOP fundraiser Jack Oliver have advocated for Kaestel's clemency.

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