“Never in my wildest dreams did I think a grown man could be charged with possession of a marker in my own home,” he said.

According to the NY Times and Newsday , Ket pleaded out yesterday and was sentenced to paying a hefty $12,000 fine and probation..but he also had to promise to paint a mural in Brooklyn.

In Brooklyn, however, District Attorney Charles Hynes, in a nod to those who would argue that graffiti is art, also extracted a promise that Mr. Maridueña would paint a public mural at a school or other community facility, to be designated by the district attorney’s office. The subject of the mural, under the plea deal, must be mutually acceptable to both sides, and include no messages either condemning or endorsing graffiti or breaking the law, Mr. Kuby said yesterday.

When are we going to make up our mind about the realities of graffiti? Ever single time I’ve painted a mural, I’ve gotten nothing but praise from the neighborhood and passers-by.  The more we embrace graf, the better the pieces will be. If we embrace it, not just in the corporate world, but as a public art form, eventually the street bombers will be pushed to the side. Look at the pieces done in the mid-70’s in comparison to what’s being done now on the subways. Only when the system started fighting back did the quality in pieces go down and the anger started showing through.