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Robert Gehrke: Utah loan sharks are locking up borrowers and it must stop

Cecilia Avila was working at her job at Walmart when she was handcuffed and marched out of the store, not for being a hardened criminal, but for being poor.

Avila had borrowed money from Loans for Less, one of those short-term, high-interest lenders, and found herself unable to pay it back. So Loans for Less took her to court and Avila, unable to get time off work, missed the hearing. A judge then issued a warrant for her arrest.

She was hauled in by an armed constable — not a police officer — and booked into jail.