The Associated Press via MSNBC
SANTA RITA DO SAPUCAI, Brazil — Brazilian inmate Ronaldo da Silva hops on a bicycle and pedals furiously, clocking up several miles before slowing down and jumping off.
Silva hasn’t gotten far, in fact not an inch. He’s still inside the medium-security prison where he’s serving a 5.5-year sentence for holding up a bakery, standing next to a stationary bike.
But he did move a bit closer to freedom. Silva is part of an innovative program that allows inmates at a prison in Brazil’s southeastern Minas Gerais state to reduce their sentences in exchange for generating power to help illuminate the town at night.
Full story: Inmates at Brazil prison pedal for electricity - and their freedom