Skull-tattooed U.S. ‘Eyeball’ man gets 22 years for shooting cop
Jason Barnum, 39, said he could not find a job after leaving prison in 2010 because of his ‘beautiful face’
A U.S. citizen with a demonic-appearing face due to designs and tattoos including one on the white of his eyeball was sentenced last week to 22 years in prison for shooting an Alaska police officer, reported KTUU.
Jason Barnum, 39, whose striking facial tattoos earned him the name “Eyeball,” pleaded guilty at Anchorage Superior Court on Friday to the September 2012 shooting and wounding of police officer Daniel Thyen, the NBC-affiliated television station reported.
Barnum’s appearance did not go unnoticed in the court.
"I'm going to stick my neck out here and state the obvious," Anchorage Police Department Chief Mark Mew said.
Jason Barnum Anchorage Alaska KTUU
"I'd like you to take a look at Mr. Barnum. He has the right to do this to himself and to express himself. We can't sentence him for that, but I think we can consider a guy's attitude and his behavior."
Mew, who took the stand on Friday arguing for a harsh sentence, said: "I think Jason Barnum decided a long time ago that his life was about being hostile to people.”
The court was told that Barnum’s offenses were motivated by his need to feed a heroin addiction.
Barnum, who had 14 previous convictions against him, told the court that after leaving prison in 2010, he had nowhere to live and could not get a job because of his "beautiful face.”
“I’m humbled by what the chief said. I was out there pretty much running crazy,” Barnum told the court.
“Everybody knows that I'm not the nicest guy. I understand that what I did was wrong. I can’t take none of it back.”
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jack Smith said the sentence against Barnum included parole and would likely provide more assistance when he is released and in his mid-fifties.
