More collateral damage in the War on Drugs

[N7WR]

Well I read the story you linked too and do not buy Grandma's story for 1 single second. You would have to be pretty stupid to think everything was legit when a unknown man in Mexico offers to buy you 3 tour buses, registers them in her name, and all you have to do is drive passengers from Mexico to Houston and get paid for it. Yeah right! If she is that stupid, well we got her off the streets and out of the voting booth. But me thinks she knew exactly what she was doing and got caught red handed.

Yep! You got it. Only those with an anti law abiding agenda or who have their heads deep in the sand will buy her story.

[KB4QAA]

How much will it cost to maintain the little old lady in custody when she gets ill? What are the chances of her reoffending at her age? I grew up in a lock them up and throw away the key state that now has a huge population of geriatric inmates that not only take up a bed but cost to maintain medically even in a prison medical ward setting. Not against punishing her but life maybe life in her case along with all of the bills.

There are provisions in the Federal Penal Code for dumping sick old prisoners on the street...er....I mean its a 'Compassionate Release" program for sick and elderly prisoners. It's done all the time.

[W9OE]

They say,

Oh, no the poor old grandmother is in prison.
It was her first offense.
There is no evidence.
The big bad U.S. government has it all wrong and is picking on her.
Maybe they threatened her family.
Drugs are a non violent crime.

Are you people real???

Look the case up. For someone to make such comments on the information provided it that piece CRAP article that was linked to in the post, just shows some people will believe anything.

Hey lady, I will pay you a $1000.00 to drive this bus to Houston, leave at a warehouse for two hours while you have lunch and then drive it back to me. Then you can do it again tomorrow.

She is 57 years old, and this has been going on for how many years, now??? But she did not know, they say. Ya, RIGHT!

What is your definition of a first offense?
Is it the first time someone commits a crime?
Is it the first time someone gets caught?
Or, is it the first time someone gets convicted?

Just because this is her first time getting caught and convicted does not mean it is here first offense. She may have done this hundreds of times.

If you research the case the Big Bad U.S. Government stated they had over a TON of evidence. A TON of Cocaine in one trip. And NEWS FLASH folks, she was convicted by a JURY not the Government!!!

Some one said maybe they threatened her family, well maybe they did. There goes the theory that she had no knowledge and is an innocent victim! We all know she did it for the CASH! Do you think for a minute that the suppliers don't coach these people as to what to say and what not to say if they get caught.

Do you think it is a good idea they drop the charges for smuggling a TON of Cocaine into the country because once caught, they say I did not know, or they threatened my family.

My all time favorite, drugs are not a violent crime. She should not have been sentenced to life in prison for a non violent crime. What rock have these people been under for the last 100 years?

Read the statistics published by the Justice Dept. Over 70% of the violent crimes committed in the U.S. are linked directly to THE DRUG TRADE! How many Mexican Civilians, Police Officers and members of the Military have been killed this year alone? Answer- Tens of thousands! But, you are right it's a non violent crime.

Sorry, I am not buying the garbage everyone is spewing about the poor old lady victimized by our Government. The only sad thing about this that there will be 100 more old ladies willing to take her place to make a fast buck.

At least she will have some of them to grow old with in the Joint.

Just my 2 cents....

[N5YPJ]

Just a thought for whatever it is worth...To suggest that alcohol and tobacco aren't any worse than drug consumption is not correct. Though legal, alcohol and tobacco are both drugs. They are considered drugs of abuse as are cocaine, etc. The fact that both drugs, alcohol and tobacco, are legal, leads some to believe they are "...no worse..." than other drugs (I presume you were referring to illicit drugs). They are worse, far worse. Many thousands more people die from the use of tobacco and alcohol annually in the USA, than do the total number of people that die due to illegal drug related deaths. Maybe not relavant to this discussion, though relavant nonetheless.

+10, well said!

[KD3NE]

but is there hard evidence to convict this women?

Seems like there was.

Cocaine was being smuggled on the buses, and she was the owner of the buses.

That's all that is needed to tie her into the conspiracy. She was foolish for putting her name on the buses.

She maintains that she did not know anything about the drug smuggling, but who knows what others claimed as to her knowledge.

There has to be more then any of us know about, unless we were on that jury that convicted her.

I do agree that the sentence is way out of whack.

[N5YPJ]

There are provisions in the Federal Penal Code for dumping sick old prisoners on the street...er....I mean its a 'Compassionate Release" program for sick and elderly prisoners. It's done all the time.

Well I used to be US Bureau of Prisons employee who made plenty of overtime money guarding the sick old inmates from our institution at the local community hospital until they could possibly be shipped to a Federal Medical Center (FMC). I don't say the program doesn't exist but there sure were a few cases that made you wonder if we weren't doing the inmate a favor keeping him in custody providing his medical care.

[KF5LJW]

I don't say the program doesn't exist but there sure were a few cases that made you wonder if we weren't doing the inmate a favor keeping him in custody providing his medical care.

You know what if they are lifers: I say why give them medical treatment? Only administer pain killers to keep them comfortable if they are conscious. Otherwise let God deal with them and take his course.

[KK4AMP]

It would be interesting to have a look at ticket sales and a P&L statement for this bus company.

[AE1PT]

My all time favorite, drugs are not a violent crime. She should not have been sentenced to life in prison for a non violent crime. What rock have these people been under for the last 100 years?

Read the statistics published by the Justice Dept. Over 70% of the violent crimes committed in the U.S. are linked directly to THE DRUG TRADE! How many Mexican Civilians, Police Officers and members of the Military have been killed this year alone? Answer- Tens of thousands! But, you are right it's a non violent crime.

There it is! My all time, favorite evasion of the real facts. Yes, there is tremendous violence--ranging from coca producing states in South America, through the conduit of Mexico--and right down into the poverty stricken neighborhoods that use cocaine as an alternative economy.

Now as Paul Harvey said, the rest of the story. Why is there so much violence? Because of profits. Cocaine is artificially expensive, considering the quantities produced and traveling through the pipeline. Go to Peru and see what it sells for--very cheap--and that is the incentive. Due to the inane laws we have created in the failed "War on Drugs", the risk increases the price geometrically the closer it comes to the end consumer. The violence is a direct result of the end value of the product, and the money that flows back down the pipeline.

I suppose now that one could counter with the specious argument that decriminalization will create more users and addicts.

[N6MEJ]

. I suppose now that one could counter with the specious argument that decriminalization will create more users and addicts.

Please help me understand why such argument would be specious.