What do you think of when you hear someone's a convicted felon?

[NYFelon]

Looks like I will have to change my way of thinking. You seem very sure of yourself.

hang 'em all.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

I figure they weren't very good at doing what they were trying to do otherwise they wouldn't have gotten pinched. If that works to my advantage, I go with it.

 

[parsimonious]

I think they must be the absolute epitome of evil. No one ever became a felon due to circumstances beyond their control, or was in the wrong place at the wrong time. All felons intentionally violated the law. There has never been an erroneous prosecution or conviction in the history of the American justice system.

fixed.

 

[level.eleven]

That website is part of the Heritage Foundation. Good find.

I think the issue isn't so much if a law was broken, rather the ambiguity and application of current law. It seems an awfully large net can be cast at will.

Video of a Stossel show...

http://www.heritage.org/Multimedia/Video/2010/07/Walsh-FBN-7-15-10

 

[RockofStrength]

They look like a stick figure with a huge head and crossed arms.

Kinda specific, I know, but every felon I've ever met has looked like that.

 

[NYFelon]

They look like a stick figure with a huge head and crossed arms.

Kinda specific, I know, but every felon I've ever met has looked like that.

 

[Westside]

I always figure I can score some dope from them.

Westside is smart, he provided my real answer.

That is not something I hear very often. Thank's

 

[vitamink]

No one ever became a felon due to circumstances beyond their control, or was in the wrong place at the wrong time. All felons intentionally violated the law. There has never been an erroneous prosecution or conviction in the history of the American justice system.

It apparently happens 100% of the time. Just ask a convicted felon. I'm clear on the wrong place wrong time. I referred to it earlier as "there i was minding my own business WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN!..."

Just after i typed the earlier message a friend called me today for some legal advice as her convicted wrong place wrong time felon friend wanted money for a lawyer. He explained that he was picked up for his driving warrant. When he asked what he did, the man explained that he was (according to the lying police) driving recklessly. He was given a court date that he missed and was picked up on a warrant. He then wanted money for a lawyer.

After some research we found that he actually was drunk, and ran over a little girl causing serious bodily injury, but this was his 2nd drunk sbi crash. Some people just remember things differently.

In this particular case this guy is getting filthy rich off of 1000's of pounds of lobster while his competitors were doing it the legal way. He knowingly and intentionally took possession of this lobster which is a felony here in the united states.

Keep in mind when someone gets caught, they go on an internet "i did nothing wrong" campaign. It is unfortunate that those that uphold the law don't get to rebut the statements in the same forum for the masses to enjoy.

 

[RichardR]

Honduran law requires lobster tails to be packed in cardboard boxes for shipping.

I mean how dare an American businessman accept a shipment of lobster tails that were improperly packaged according to Honduran law? the nerve of that guy!

He's lucky I wasn't the judge, I'd have sentenced him to 80 years in prison instead of just 8 years.

 

[96firephoenix]

In this particular case this guy is getting filthy rich off of 1000's of pounds of lobster while his competitors were doing it the legal way. He knowingly and intentionally took possession of this lobster which is a felony here in the united states.

You conveniently left out the part where the only reason he got this shipment of lobster was because he out-bid everyone else that was trying to get it. You also left out the part where the US government enforced the laws of another country. You also left out the part where that other country said the law didn't apply... this guy was obviously trying to cheat the system and got caught.

 

[buford t justice]

That's what I hate about our justice system the prisons are full of guys who didn't do anything wrong.

 

[vitamink]

I conveniently didn't include anything from his woe is me video as it was all crap. He didn't "outbid" anyone. He paid a lower price for illegal lobster. His excuse was, "everyone was doing it you're singling me out". He was a part of a ring that brought in undersized illegal lobster at a lower price and made 5 million off of it. Yes the government enforced the Lacey act...not that it really mattered as the same laws apply here.

"The Lacey Act prohibits persons from importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce any fish or wildlife that was taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any underlying foreign law"

Essentially you can't fish for undersized lobster in the united states. You can't fish for undersized lobster in honduras. Therefore you can't pay someone to fish for undersized lobster in honduras then send it to you in the united states. Of course if you do do that, be sure to keep a ledger where you use symbols to designate the undersized lobster as to be used in soups, and other symbols to designate the ones you can serve whole.

I agree in the convicted felon's internet woe is me video it said that honduras didn't care. However this is real life not the internet...and YES they did care. The country said the laws applied, the defense said the laws didn't as the honduran person quoting the law wasn't ranked high enough discern what the law meant (in the defenses eyes).

"In June 1999, NMFS agents and an attorney in the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) met in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with various Honduran officials from the SAG, including the minister, vice minister, director of legal services, director of legal affairs, secretary general, the director general of the DIGEPESCA, and the legal advisor for the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (SENASA), an agency within the SAG responsible for the enforcement of hygiene laws and regulations. Pet. App. 5a. During those meetings the Honduran officials confirmed that the lobsters had been exported illegally without first being inspected and processed, that there was a 51/2 inch size limit for lobster tails, and that all catches had to be reported to Honduran authorities. The Honduran officials also provided certified copies of the laws in question."

 

[jsharmon7]

So I went ahead and ignored the slanted video and tried to research this myself. I can't find much on the specifics of the trial, but a grand jury returned an indictment and the jury found him guilty on all counts. It doesn't seem like anybody is questioning that part, simply the law itself, so I will assume that he's truly guilty of these allegations. If that's the case then he knowingly bought illegally smuggled lobster tails and made millions of dollars off of it. He knew the guy he was buying them from was harvesting them illegally and transporting them illegally and he still bought the lobster tails. This guy is hardly some poor, innocent, hard-working fisherman who got railroaded by the government. He was profiting off of illegal activity at the expense of the nation of Honduras. My only issue with his conviction was the prison time that he got. If I were a judge (I'm not) I think some heavy fines and sanctions would have been sufficient, there is no need to lock this man away from society for what he did.

Now that leaves the question of whether the Federal government has the right to make laws such as the Lacey Act that indirectly penalize crimes in other countries. To me this is a matter of foreign relations, which I think the Federal government should have an active role. In this situation I look at it like being a good neighbor; you don't let the neighborhood kids hide out in your yard to egg cars when they drive by. If they are trying to protect their natural resources and industry and guys like lil' Abner here are intentionally breaking the laws for profit for many years then maybe we should do something to help them stop it. If we had some endangered species that Hondurans loved to eat and Americans were smuggling them out for a profit to sell down there, I think that we'd want Honduras to help us stop the problem too. We would have an interest in protecting that resource and I would hope Honduras would be a good neighbor and help us stop the leakage. I know many here will disagree, but I think foreign relations is an area that Federal government should handle.

 

[vitamink]

I'll agree with the sentence being harsh in the time department. He did 6 years. The fine was paltry though. He made millions, paid a few thousand.