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'I hate everybody who breaks the law'
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
BROOKSVILLE -- A friend once gave Pete Magrino a small placard that sits on the edge of his tidy desk at the State Attorney's Office. "I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody," it reads. Magrino, leaning forward in his chair, points to the sign and, as lawyers often do, qualifies the statement. "I hate bad guys," he says. "I hate criminals. I hate everybody who breaks the law." Magrino is the new division supervisor for the State Attorney's Office in Hernando County. In October, he replaced Bill Catto, who moved to Citrus County. A former street cop, Magrino, 50, left his position as head of the public corruption, gangs and organized crime unit at the Broward State Attorney's Office, where he had worked since 1983. He took a demotion and pay cut to join the State Attorney's Office for the 5th Judicial Circuit in June, when he moved his family to Citrus County for "quality of life" reasons. "The people are nice here," Magrino said. "If you walk into a store, they say, "Hey, how can I help you?' In South Florida, they say, "Give me the money and get the hell out of here.' " Magrino was first assigned to Lake County, but recently transferred to Hernando because it is closer to his home. He will supervise 10 local prosecutors and will work what he describes as the "more sensitive" cases. Although he plans to change little about the office, Magrino brings certain ideas about the criminal justice system: namely that it's meant to punish, not reform. "I'm not into the whole idea of taking little Johnny to rehab," he said. "If you break the law, if you prey on innocent members of the public, you should be placed in a secure environment and not be allowed to do it again. So long, goodbye, and good luck to you." A self-described bulldog, Magrino characterizes his style as no-nonsense. He is not a man of big words. He speaks plainly in a cool, steely voice. "Keep it simple, stupid," is his philosophy, and he often prefers the Reader's Digest version of something to the War and Peace variety. He is not known for diplomacy, and he is not always politically correct, he says. Magrino's father was a Marine who served in World War II and had two tours in Vietnam, submitting his retirement papers when they asked him to return a third time. His mother spent her time raising Magrino and his brother, a firefighter in Miami. They grew up on various military bases across the country and mostly lived in safe, guarded neighborhoods where no one was scared to walk at night. That's a luxury everyone deserves, Magrino said. "The No. 1 priority of government is to provide for the safety of its citizens," Magrino said. "John Q. Citizen should be able to walk down the street and not be overly concerned with his safety. An elderly person should be able to go to the grocery store at twilight and not be knocked down by a street thug." Magrino joined the Marines after high school and spent 21/2 years in Quantico, Va., and Camp Lejeune, N.C. Afterward, he moved to Miami-Dade and was a police officer there for 81/2 years. He worked everything from fruit thefts to homicides and said he was often frustrated by the young prosecutors handling his cases. "I learned early, like most rookies do, that no matter what you do on the street, it does not matter if the assistant state attorney is not fully trained," he said. Magrino's upbringing was middle class; his family lived somewhere between the projects and the high-rent district. His parents didn't have the money for college, and it wasn't an immediate goal for Magrino. But when he started looking at those prosecutors, he thought maybe he could do that, too. And he believed court might be a better place to fight the bad guys. He worked his way through school to earn a bachelor's degree and then through law school at Nova Southeastern University. After graduating, he decided not to join the Miami prosecutors because he thought they were soft on crime. He said he took a job with Broward State Attorney Mike Satz because Satz believes there is a place for criminals: prison. Magrino believes his law enforcement experience makes him a better prosecutor. "I know what it's like to chase Joe Dirtbag at 2 in the morning through the projects," he said. "I know what it's like to respond to the wealthy homes after one side whops up on the other." He thinks sometimes that he could be retired now if he had stayed in law enforcement, with a nice benefits package and long days with his wife, Marylou, a cardiac nurse at the Ocala Heart Institute, and her 11-year-old daughter. But Magrino says that he has never been motivated by leisure or money, and that he is content working and living within his means. He says he is a career prosecutor, old school, motivated by one thing: "I hate the bad guys. What else can I say?" -- Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
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From today's Hernando Times |
