Bin man in wealthy suburb jailed – for starting work too early

Kevin McGill, who works for Waste Management Inc, pleaded guilty to violating an ordinance in Sandy Springs, a famously wealthy suburb 15 miles north of Atlanta, which bans collections prior to 7am.

Mr McGill reported to a local prison at 6pm yesterday after opting to serve his time on weekends so that he is still able to work and support his wife and two children.

Chief court prosecutor Bill Reilly said that early garbage collections are nuisance to residents who want to sleep and that his office had met with Waste Management,  a company with a revenue of just under $14 billion in 2014, after previously punishing its employees for violating the ordinance.

The prosecutor said that the fines, which have been handed to the company before, “don’t seem to work” and that it was the right decision to punish McGill, who had only been on the route for three months, with jail time.

McGill was also sentenced to six months of probations, during which he will pay fees to Sandy Springs, according to Vice.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is a resident of the wealthy suburb

The suburb, in which the average income for a family of four is$205,080 (£136,371.64), has privatised almost all of its city services, including its municipal courts, its communications, parks, economic development and call centre operations.

Its website states that “this business model fosters a proactive, responsive and efficient approach to providing city services.”

According to the New York Times, the suburbs residents include numerous professional athletes, executives for Delta Air Lines, CNN, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain and rapper Akon.