Houston man says former boss only spent 1 day in jail for stabbing him 9 times

Houston man says former boss spent 1 day in jail for stabbing him 9 times

A Houston man says that his former boss only spent one day in jail for stabbing him nine times and won't have to pay him more than $50,000 in restitution.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - As far as Adam Harvey is concerned, justice eludes him.

Houston man stabbed nine times after trying to get money owed to him by his boss

The backstory:

On Dec. 26, 2017, Adam went to a north side apartment to get $600 he says his boss at the time, 43-year-old Joseph Nguyen, owed him.

"He decides to stab me as opposed to pay me," said Adam, who was stabbed nine times.

Nguyen pleaded guilty in 2018 and was sentenced to six years' deferred probation.

Joseph Nguyen 

What they're saying:

"This is a complete failure to our justice system," said Adam.

"The 90 percentile of cases are resolved by way of a plea bargain and those are resolved with probation and deferred adjudication," said Senior FOX 26 Legal Expert Chris Tritico. "If we didn't do that, we wouldn't have enough space to house all the people we'd be convicting."

Nguyen was ordered to pay $53,550 dollars in restitution.

How much did Adam get? $2,300 and Adam realizes he won't see another dime.

"When a defendant, who is ordered to pay restitution just doesn't have the money, the court doesn't have the authority just to throw them in jail if that's their only violation," Tritico said.

He is not a convicted felon. But his criminal court file remains a matter of public record.

"Every agency in Texas considers deferred to be a conviction," said Tritico.