[n2gun]

Pot-Scented Cash Leads to Major Drug Bust



Two women accused of growing marijuana in their homes made so much money they bought three neighboring houses so they could grow more plants, prosecutors allege.

But investigators learned of their activities last summer when a bank teller called police to say that the women's cash deposits smelled like marijuana.

In documents made public Monday, prosecutors contend Kathleen Jenny and Virginia Erickson were the brains behind the $1 million pot growing operation that began in 1994 in their basements.

The women, both 59, agreed last week to plead guilty to money laundering, authorities said. They face up to six years in prison, instead of the mandatory 10-year federal prison term.

The business was so successful that the women eventually involved their husbands and bought the three other neighborhood homes in which to grow more marijuana, court documents allege.

Drug agents who searched the homes found more than 500 marijuana plants, $110,000 in cash and psychedelic mushrooms. Investigators said as many as 4,000 plants were grown.

The women's husbands, Francis Jenny, 65, and Jack Erickson, 66, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants, and face between two-and a half and three years in prison. A fifth defendant, Gregory Montgomery, 54, pleaded guilty Monday to the same charge.

All five will remain free until they are sentenced in the spring.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said federal agencies are investigating whether more people were involved.
Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003

[eggplant43]

This stinks of Government interferrence in retirement planning. Where is Mulder when you need him? *bump*

[valley]

*bump*

[eggplant43]

Posted on Wed, Jan. 08, 2003



Woman, 79, charged in altercation
Akron police say store customer wrestled with guard, pulled out loaded gun
By Julie Wallace
Beacon Journal staff writer

A pistol-packing golden-ager wrestled with a security guard and bent a police cruiser's window frame after raising a ruckus during an afternoon visit Monday to a grocery store, police said.

Wilma Bennett, 79, of May Street was being held Tuesday in the Summit County Jail on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, felonious assault, assault and menacing.

``She's a wildcat,'' said Lt. Sylvia Trundle, police spokeswoman.

Police say Bennett, a regular customer at the Aldi stores on South Main and Arlington streets, got upset while waiting in line at the South Main Street store about 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Bennett, who twice has been escorted from the store for mouthing off to the clerks because she didn't like lines, was operating on a last-chance agreement -- she had to behave or be permanently barred, said Richard Shaver, the 31-year-old security guard who ended up wrestling with her.

On Monday, Bennett started growing loud almost immediately after approaching the checkout area. The clerk summoned Shaver, who walked over to escort her from the store.

Instead, he said Bennett smacked him across the face and pulled out a gun -- one that Shaver believed to be a toy -- and started saying she wanted to shoot him.

That remark started the wrestling match, with Shaver grabbing the woman by the wrist so he could face the gun away from the two of them and other customers in the store.

That proved to be a good decision: The gun wasn't a toy. It turned out to be a loaded .22-caliber revolver, police said.

``She's got a bad attitude... but I'd never believe she'd go that far,'' Shaver said Tuesday.

She kicked Shaver during the struggle, leaving bruises on his legs. The kicking continued when police arrived -- she kicked at the officers and kicked the window frame of the cruiser door so hard that she bent it, Trundle said.

``She's a pretty feisty lady,'' Trundle said.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[n2gun]

tax dollars at work
**************************************************

Australian Spiders to Be Sent Into Space



Eight spiders from Australia will make a trip to outer space to help America's space agency test the effects of zero gravity.

A total of 30 Golden Orb spiders bred at the Melbourne Zoo left for Cape Canaveral in Florida state Thursday packed in a cooler, said zoo keeper Patrick Honan said. Only eight _ deemed the most frisky after the long flight _ will board a space shuttle Jan. 16 for a 16-day orbit.

Honan said the tiny spiders _ which are not poisonous _ are ideal candidates for the experiment because they create perfectly symmetrical webs, making any changes easily identifiable.

It's not the first time arachnids have been sent into space.

In 1973, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent Arabella, an American common cross spider, into orbit on the Skylab space station.
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003

[eggplant43]

Here's Proof That Some Elected Officials Really Value The Trust Placed In Them By The Citizens.


Rocky Mountain News


E-mails filled with lewd talk
Notes from Arapahoe clerk to aide reveal sexual relationship

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
January 9, 2003

Arapahoe County will release today hundreds of lewd e-mails between County Clerk Tracy Baker and an employee who is his girlfriend.

Many of the e-mails obtained by the Rocky Mountain News are so sexually explicit that they cannot be printed in a newspaper in their entirety.

The cybersex communiques are filled with slang words for male and female genitalia, and muse about having sex in front of another unspecified female.

"Unbutton that blouse one more button and I'm going in . . .," Baker wrote deputy clerk Leesa Sale in one message.

"My tongue slowly is massaging your ear as my hand is . . . ," Sale wrote Baker last Jan. 17.

Baker and Sale fought the release of the messages, but Arapahoe County District Judge Thomas C. Levi ruled they were public record. County commissioners wanted the messages released to reinforce its demand for Baker's resignation.

Baker initially denied he was having a relationship with Sale. He later said he lied because he didn't want his private life made public and that he had no idea that their deleted computer messages could be retrieved.

Most of the 570 sexually explicit or romantic e-mails to be released today were written during working hours, on equipment that was paid for by taxpayers.

"So why are you sitting there all professional, imagine this," Baker wrote Sale. "Me kissing your inner thigh while . . ."

In one missive, Baker wrote, "Ok wrap it up!! We have an important engagement to keep. Please, now I'm begging, I'm a pitiful soul. NOW (have sex with) ME!!!"

In another he wrote, "I adore, worship and want to LICK you from head to toe, interested?"

In a message from Sale to Baker, she wrote: "You leave me without saying goodbye or that you want to make love to me? Well then I guess that I wont (sic) tell you that I am . . . playing with myself . . ."

In another she wrote, "Damn, I want you and love you. Can we please . . .?"

The Rocky Mountain News and other news organizations requested access to the e-mails under the Colorado Open Records Act.

The e-mails were uncovered by Rick Johnson & Associates, an investigative firm hired by Arapahoe County last summer after Baker's former chief deputy, Mary Whitley, filed a sexual harassment complaint about Baker's work activities. The county is negotiating a settlement with Whitley.

After getting the company's report, Arapahoe County commissioners accused Baker of "gross mismanagement, sexual misconduct, misuse of public funds and property" and "creating a hostile work environment."

Records show that Baker boosted Sale's salary by $41,000 in less than three years, and also gave her overtime and bonuses.

The commissioners demanded his resignation, but Baker refused, saying that he had done nothing wrong. The Arapahoe County Republican Party also has asked him to resign.

As an elected official, Baker does not have to meet their demands but could be recalled. He was re-elected to office in November.

[angelize56]

Boy I bet they're going to be embarrassed! Too bad the public will take an interest in their lewd emails....a different type of voyeurism. Guess the Rocky Mountain News needed a way to boost their circulation! Gee! Take care. angel

P.S.-While they were wrong to email at work....I still think the emails should be kept private! We all know they aren't the only ones doing that!

[n2gun]

Man Tries to Sell His Family on eBay



Writer Steve Young may be able to peddle his prose, but when it came to selling his family, the father of two couldn't cash in on the $5 million offer.

After reading about the online sale of a struggling town in Humboldt County, Young decided to put his wife and kids on the auction block.

"If a town could be sold online, then how much could you get for a family?" Young said.

After consulting with wife Diana, and their two children, Kelly, 9, and Casey, 8, Young said he posted the ad Thursday on eBay and received more than 10,000 hits within minutes.

But when eBay operators heard about the auction early Friday, they yanked the ad, saying it is against company policy to sell human beings.

"People have tried to sell themselves five or six times over the past four or five years," said eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove. "There have been attempts to sell their nephew, uncle, wife, whoever is in the doghouse at the time. They've even tried to sell their soul."

Young said the auction winner would receive a lifetime of platonic companionship, including invitations to family outings and holiday gatherings as well as tips on writing, gardening and cooking. The minimum bid was $5 million.

The family was willing to relocate anywhere, and the elder Youngs would change their surname.

"You have patrons of the arts, museums and charities. I wanted a patron for my family," he said.
Monday, Jan. 13, 2003

[SyscoKid]

Multiple Miranda: Judge's strange 'split' decision means extra warnings for other personalities

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Thursday, January 9, 2003 | Joe Kovacs

Posted on 01/08/2003 11:34 PM PST by JohnHuang2


"You have the right to remain silent ... and so do you, and you, and you."

That's what police could be reciting from now on in the wake of a unique court ruling from the same Montana county that dealt with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

A judge there has decided that once is not enough when it comes to Miranda warnings for criminal suspects who have multiple personalities.

"That's absurd!" Richard Ackerman of the United States Justice Foundation told WorldNetDaily. "The judiciary that issued this ruling is as crazy as the person who proceeded with the claim in the first place."

The decision comes in the case of Tessa Haley, a Helena woman accused of stabbing her longtime roommate last year.

At the time of her arrest, Haley reportedly made several statements implicating herself, but District Judge Thomas Honzel tossed them out, saying the damaging remarks presumably had been made by Haley's alternate personality, who had not been given an additional advisement of her rights.

"If you use that as a precedent," Ackerman said, "then anyone with a remote history of mental illness will use it to avoid criminal liability. It's just crazy! Just crazy!"

Since 1966, police nationwide have been reading criminal suspects what is known as a Miranda warning, advising them of their rights before questioning. While having slight variations among law-enforcement agencies, a typical version includes:

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to be speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.

In the Montana case, as reported by the Helena Independent Record, court documents reveal a bizarre scenario that unfolded in the early evening of Sept 2.

Police first got a call from a woman calling herself "Martha," who claimed she had just stabbed another woman.

Upon arrival to the scene, officers found Haley, 58, working on her home computer. She was wearing a surgical mask and her hands were stained with blood.

She explained the mask was a guard against germs, but denied knowledge of the emergency call, or of any person known as Martha.

Meanwhile, a local hospital phoned authorities to say it was treating a woman suffering a two-inch stab wound and that the victim had positively identified Haley as her assailant.

Police handcuffed Haley, read her the Miranda warning, and commenced a search of the residence with the woman's permission.

When officers asked if she'd take a breath test for drug or alcohol consumption, Haley said she should probably consult an attorney. So, investigators halted their questioning.

According to police reports, a change in Haley's personality was then noticed by an officer who says Haley began growling, demanding to know what was happening.

When asked if she knew the victim, the woman – now identifying herself as "Martha" – said, "I stabbed her."

Before transporting Haley to jail, police brought her to St. Peter's Hospital to check her mental status. It was there, according to court records, that Haley recounted more events, including an admission she couldn't consummate the killing since the victim had escaped.

Public Defender Randi Hood argued that none of the remarks made by "Martha" should be admissible, as Haley had invoked her right to legal counsel.

"It is inconceivable that one personality could relinquish the right to have an attorney present before questioning to the detriment of other personalities," she wrote.

Hood also argued to strike similar statements made at the hospital, in spite of objections by prosecutors, who said both Haley and her alter ego were never forced by police to disclose anything.

Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher said Haley's admissions had been spontaneous, as officers had stopped their interrogation and were looking out for the suspect's well-being during the hospital run.

In the end, Judge Honzel decided the incriminating statements both at home and the hospital should be suppressed.
Nonetheless, prosecutors don't appear devastated by the ruling.

"I can understand why the judge made his decision, and we'll try to work around it and get some better evidence," Gallagher told the Independent Record.

After WorldNetDaily informed Ackerman of the case specifics, the California-based USJF attorney provided a more in-depth reaction.

"First, it is not the job of an arresting officer to diagnose a suspect for possible and existent mental disorders," Ackerman said.

"Second, even if it were their duty, they have no duty to determine the number of possible 'personalities' that they are about to arrest. A rational approach to Miranda suggests that only one 'person' is being arrested. If, in fact, the person is mentally ill, they have no concerns to begin with, since insanity is a complete defense to an intentional crime. What's the point in giving Miranda advisements if there is no assurance that a 'personality' hears it at all?

"This is just one more example of judicially created law resulting in absurd results. Miranda is nowhere in the Constitution, and the Constitution does not create a separate class of rights for each claimed personality of a homicide suspect.

"This ruling places an incredibly onerous burden on an arresting officer, and I am shocked that the county attorney has thrown up the white flag on this one. Be assured that California's 'criminally insane' will be the first to adopt a new family of personalities and hire a 'dream team' to bring an ignorant face to each one."

The trial for Haley – and "Martha" – is slated to begin Jan. 21 on a charge of attempted homicide, punishable by up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine. Bail has been set at $100,000.

[eggplant43]

"Martha" is guilty, and should go to prison.

Haley is innocent, and should go free.

[n2gun]

Mousetrap Sparks Fla. Airport Evacuation



A section of the Tampa airport was evacuated Monday after baggage screeners spotted a "very, very suspicious" object on an X-ray monitor. It turned out to be a mousetrap inside a coffee can.

The ticketing area was evacuated for about 45 minutes and several flights were delayed briefly. A bomb squad used a robot to remove the object from the bag.

"When you looked at the monitor, it had all these wires and looked very, very suspicious," said Chris Rhatigan, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.

Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said airport police and TSA officials were talking with the bag's owner. No immediate charges were filed.

The federal government began requiring the screening of all baggage on Jan. 1.
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003

[eggplant43]

Bungling Burglar Has Very Bad Day
Port Royal, Va., Jan. 16, 2003


Edward Blaine of Spotsylvania County, Va., might better have spent Wednesday in bed, with the covers pulled over his head.

Police say Blaine, 61, tried to rob a Port Royal, Va., bank, and gave new meaning to having a bad day.

He left $100 bills in his wake and, when he reached his rented getaway car, he found the keys had been locked inside.

It didn't get any better. After he fled his locked car on foot, the frustrated suspect was run down by two civilians and inadvertently shot himself in the leg.

When he continued to struggle, one of the citizens shot him in the leg, too.

Caroline County Sheriff Homer Johnson said Blaine, of Spotsylvania County, was eventually charged with eight felonies, including robbery and two counts of attempted murder. He was hospitalized in Richmond for his injuries, which did not appear to be life threatening.

According to The Free-Lance Star of Fredericksburg, Blaine walked up to two tellers at Union Bank & Trust and ordered them to "be cool" and give him all the money in large bills. The culprit had a gun in his pocket, Johnson said, but never pulled it out.

Blaine fled the bank with several thousand dollars, but dropped several $100 bills along the way as he tried stuffing the money in his pockets, Johnson said.

When beating on the car window with a large piece of wood only drew him the attention of the owner and an employee of the auto body shop where he'd parked the car — blocking one of the bays — Blaine abandoned the car and fled with them in pursuit.

When the two men caught him, Blaine tried to shoot them, but instead couldn't get his gun out of his coat and shot his own leg, Johnson said. One of the men also shot the suspect when he kept fighting.

Blaine had little reason to think this robbery would go well. Police said he served nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of a bank robbery in Maryland in 1963.

He had been due in court Thursday to accept a plea agreement for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

"That deal is off the table now," said King George County Commonwealth's Attorney Matt Britton.

[n2gun]

eggie
That is near me and my daughter lived about 2 blocks from that bank. The guy definitely did not have a thinking cap on.

[eggplant43]

What a small world. Reminds me of the story of the fellow who just couldn't make it outside, so when he got released always pulled another job to get caught and go back in.

[n2gun]

When I lived in Western New York, my cousin drove a truck that delivered vegetables and fruit to the state prisons in the area. I rode with him one time and naturally I could not go inside with him. I waited in the guard shack and talked with the guard. He told me (It was late fall and getting cold) that he saw the same guys coming in there that he saw released that spring at another prison. They would violate parole so they could be in where it was warm and free food for the winter. They would get out in the spring and be back the next winter.

?? A homeless shelter??