Manny The Hippie
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Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1997 · Page A 4
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© 1996 San Francisco Examiner | |
Manny the Hippie denied early release
Ray Delgado
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
The way Manny the Hippie sees it, the Ohio judge who denied him early release despite his pledge to go into drug treatment just made Manny more determined to celebrate his eventual release from jail with a joint.
"I don't think I'm going to go as heavy as before, but I'm still going to relax with a big fat joint after I get out," said Manny, the street kid from San Francisco whom David Letterman made famous last summer during a trip to The City.
Manny, real name Micah Papp, was denied early release Tuesday by Greene County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Rose and was ordered to finish out his sentence for violating probation on a marijuana trafficking conviction. He's due to be released in June.
Manny said he didn't mind the decision so much because June was not that long of a wait and he would not have to worry about breaking probation if he served his full 18-month sentence.
"I was kind of upset but relieved," Manny said from prison during a collect call. "At least now when I get out, I won't have to worry about being on probation."
Manny, 20, was convicted in 1995 of selling an eighth of an ounce of marijuana to an undercover police officer in Xenia, Ohio, where he grew up. He skipped probation on that charge and was nailed again when Ohio officials spotted him on the late-night TV show.
While Letterman was in town doing his show, he recruited Manny to give him a tour of The City through the eyes of a hippie in several sketches.
Manny appeared on later shows doing summer movie reviews before his gig was cut short by his arrest in August by San Francisco police, who had been told of his Ohio parole violation. Manny was turned over to Ohio authorities the next month.
Since then, Manny the Hippie has been playing the role of Manny the Inmate, suffering through the "schwag" routine of prison life. He won't tell any of the other inmates of his fame because "when you're in a place like this, you try not to stand out."
What he really hates is having to shave his hair and the daily boredom of having nothing to do. Inmate conflicts have been at a minimum, Manny said, partly because Ohio residents are lame.
"In San Francisco people are nice," Manny said. "Here in Ohio they're too uptight. Maybe because most of the people in California smoke pot and are more relaxed."
When he gets out, Manny plans to return to San Francisco and hopefully get a gig with the Late Show.
"(Late Show representatives) keep telling me when I get out to give them a call," Manny said.