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Topic: BurtW arrested (update: charges dropped!) - page 2. (Read 74729 times)

newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
Not a federal case

I couldn't afford a real attorney

In case still unclear, poor != brave

So it was not a Federal felony case and you were too poor to afford an attorney.  Therefore you had no assets worth seizing.  You were not charged with a paperwork "crime" where civil asset forfeiture attached and did not have all your personal and corporate property seized in a separate civil asset forfeiture case.  You were not the target of a case centered on taking assets because you had none.  You were not charged as and treated as a terrorist under the patriot act.

Therefore my original comment was correct:  you have not faced anything like my situation.
Correct. Poor people have no no assets worth seizing, due to having none. To be that clever...
Albeit I was facing serious jail time. Did I say serious? Lol, I was a poor, jail time is nothing for poors, they don't suffer the pain of being parted from their shekels.
Not like us.

Quote
The day I was arrested they [tale of woe and inhuman torment, suburban-dad-cum-money-launderer spends a day in lockup]
Burt, it may shock you to learn that teenagers getting popped for illegal possession typically spend more time in lockup than you did. Get nailed on Friday, and you've got yourself an all-expense weekend stay at Teh Man's house. A delightful fete, surrounded by fellow freedom fighters, chatting about daring khrymez over tasty baloney & cheese sammiches.

Quote
When I was brought in front of the judge [tale of woe and inhuman torment, suburban-dad-cum-money-launderer spends a day in lockup, part 2] I felt very blessed to have savings, a wife that was able to back me up while I was in jail, a bank that was able to get the IRA cashed out in that short of a time period and on and on.  If fact this entire experience has taught me just how blessed I am and had made me more grateful than ever for my friends and family.
...and yet you trotted out your family (and your doggy) to beg for money on the interweb, like the true Randian hero that you are. Not to buy representation for those poors you so earnestly pity, but to replenish your shekel stash Undecided
legendary
Activity: 2324
Merit: 1125
Very glad to here the charges were dropped, best of wishes to BurtW!
Same here! Were his assets returned to him after they were taken by homeland? It's horrible to see people of the forum disappear.
Except for the $40,000 in cash and $40,000 in Bitcoins everything else was returned.

There have been a few high profile members that have just disappeared never to return.  The case that worries me the most is DeathAndTaxes (16028 posts, 1218 activity, Donator status, Date Registered: September 04, 2011, Last Active: April 22, 2015)  This is a very suspicious disappearance of a great guy who I really respected.  I have tried a few times to contact him but to no avail.

DeathAndTaxes always seemed to be a great guy and I valued his opinion greatly.

However, he has been involved in a shady business startup in which it seems he at least didn't act entirely ethical. Maybe one of his investors took action?
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
Very glad to here the charges were dropped, best of wishes to BurtW!
Same here! Were his assets returned to him after they were taken by homeland? It's horrible to see people of the forum disappear.
Except for the $40,000 in cash and $40,000 in Bitcoins everything else was returned.

There have been a few high profile members that have just disappeared never to return.  The case that worries me the most is DeathAndTaxes (16028 posts, 1218 activity, Donator status, Date Registered: September 04, 2011, Last Active: April 22, 2015)  This is a very suspicious disappearance of a great guy who I really respected.  I have tried a few times to contact him but to no avail.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
Not a federal case

I couldn't afford a real attorney

In case still unclear, poor != brave

So it was not a Federal felony case and you were too poor to afford an attorney.  Therefore you had no assets worth seizing.  You were not charged with a paperwork "crime" where civil asset forfeiture attached and did not have all your personal and corporate property seized in a separate civil asset forfeiture case.  You were not the target of a case centered on taking assets because you had none.  You were not charged as and treated as a terrorist under the patriot act.

Therefore my original comment was correct:  you have not faced anything like my situation.

The day I was arrested they did not have to and would not tell me why I was being arrested because I was arrested under a sealed arrest warrant under the anti-terrorism AML part of the patriot act.  They did tell me they were going to search my house and sent 22 cars full of agents to my house to execute an all day search.  When I asked them what they were searching for they told me they did not have to tell me what they were searching for because they had a sealed search warrant.  Since they did not find what they were looking for at my home they asked for and were granted a separate sealed search for my corporate offices over the phone that day.

After 24 hours in Denver county jail I was brought before the judge and was finally told what I was charged with and why I was arrested (18-1960 operating a MTB without a license).  So did you spend 24 hours in jail not knowing why you were there?  Did you spend 12 hours just in the intake room because the jailers could not figure out why you were there and could not admit you into the jail until they figured out why you were arrested?

This brings me to the point you raised about poor != brave.  I agree with you.  You have a very good point.  When I was brought in front of the judge after spending 24 hours in jail I was not the only one there for processing that day.  There were about 20 or so people in the box that had been arrested on federal charges (mostly drugs and some weapons charges).

The judge started with the first guy on the list and here is how the entire interaction went with everyone except me:

I'm pretty shocked to see some of the comments in this thread.  BurtW has nothing to prove here, and those of you attacking him should be ashamed of yourselves for attacking a victim.

Greg,  

This guy does not bother me at all, just an amateur troll probably increasing his post count so he can sell the account.  He is a great foil for the discussion and is very supportive in avidly bumping my thread for me so all is good.

I really appreciate your support.  You are one of the people here that I respect the most so your post really meant a lot to me.

Thanks.  
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
Several countries have agreed to offer asylum to any American that wants to leave  

The List:

1.
2.
3.

missing any country?

Clearly Americans have been granted political refugee status, by North Korea, by Soviet Union, more recently Russia.
Caveat: you must truly be a political refugee; being a drug dealer or a money launderer who got popped doesn't cut it.

So perhaps Burt is shit out of luck. There's always Liberland, which I'm certain would welcome Burt with open arms. He might have to bring his own goat or something, not sure about the details.  I'm just an ideas man.
Maybe we should think about how to properly punish wrongdoers. The fact that some crimes employ crypto is irrelevant.

While I know the doctrine of 'money laundering' being a crime currently exists, I find these laws insane. There is nothing evil or immoral about moving money about in any fashion. The mere movement of money harms no one. Some time back, lazy enforcers were somehow able to enact laws that they could use when they were not able to actually prove real wrongdoing. It sounds reasonable on its face, but from first principles, there is nothing good about this. Now we've reached the point where innocent people routinely are prosecuted for things which have no evil intent.
The world is rife with precrime. Driving drunk is illegal, even tho most who drive drunk don't cause accidents. While I agree with you on a purely theoretical level, there's a statist cuck part of me that's secretly glad that hand grenades aren't sold from vending carts on playgrounds.
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
So, someone must risk going to jail and total financial ruin in front of a jury in order to impress you?  Have you personally had to face five years in prison on a coin flip?  Even if you have and even if you did take it to trail so what?  My wife and I did struggle with the whole thing over many months.  We went back and forth on it.  Sometimes thinking we should get our day in court to prove beyond doubt that they were wrong and risk five the years in prison.  You can sit there behind you keyboard in your easy chair anonymously spouting your shit but your opinion simply does not matter.

Let's hear your story of bravery and bravado "proved my innocence at all cost" against a similar situation.

Can't regale you with tales of my daring-do, always having thanked my lucky stars for plea deals. At the time, a public defender was all I could afford.
On the other hand, I never trotted out my family to help me beg on the internet to cover my legal expenses, and never plead out when I was 100% innocent.
Should I bother mentioning that I never told sob stories about the US legal system failing me, after opting out of a jury trial & having agreed to a deal?
So you have never face a situation even remotely similar to mine.  Fair enough.

What part of "I have, but handled it differently" didn't come across?
I see.  I misunderstood you.  So, you used a public defender in a complex Federal felony case?  I assumed the charges were for DUI or something like that - my bad.  At any rate anyone who would use a public defender in a Federal felony case is much braver than I am.  I don't have the stones to trust my life to someone who basically works for the prosecution and can't be truly adversarial on my behalf without risking all future deals with the prosecution.

My hat's off to you o brave one.  You showed me.

You are also, obviously, more principled than me due to your hard stance on never pleading or dealing when you were totally innocent.  I love your "I am innocent and willing to pay whatever it takes to prove it" stance.  Good for you.  

I tip my hat to you o principled one.  You showed me.  

You forgot to mention that we also trotted out our dog on one of our begging pages.  She is very upset you left out her contribution to the cause.  See her cute picture here:

http://www.jmwagner.com/

>So, you used a public defender in a complex Federal felony case?
Not a federal case, your dick is clearly girthier than mine, OG. Though time is time.

>I assumed the charges were for DUI or something like that
No, nothing like that.

>At any rate anyone who would use a public defender in a Federal felony case is much braver than I am.
Which part of "I couldn't afford a real attorney & wasn't willing to trot out my family to beg for money" have I failed to communicate?

>I don't have the stones to trust my life to someone who basically works for the prosecution
In case still unclear, poor != brave; poor people on trial for murder with nothing but a public defender aren't brave, or even necessarily stupid. They're fucking poor. Asshole.
legendary
Activity: 3080
Merit: 1688
lose: unfind ... loose: untight
Several countries have agreed to offer asylum to any American that wants to leave 

The List:

1.
2.
3.

missing any country?
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1393
You lead and I'll watch you walk away.
There is only one permanent solution to this problem. All the decent people like Burt in this fucked up country need to leave. Let all the asshole government leeches stay here and suck the blood out of each other until they're all dead. Then we can come back and reoccupy the empty land. Several countries have agreed to offer asylum to any American that wants to leave if that fool Trump wins. We should take them up on it.
legendary
Activity: 938
Merit: 1002
Very glad to here the charges were dropped, best of wishes to BurtW!

Same here! Were his assets returned to him after they were taken by homeland? It's horrible to see people of the forum disappear.

hero member
Activity: 912
Merit: 661
Do due diligence
I don't want you to say anything. Consider that saying nothing is an improvement on what you did say.
Perfectly stated :-)

*BurtW: I actually read your post and glad to see things worked out (well "sort of" worked out).

It is cases like yours that will set precedents.
I would like to integrate bitcoin into real estate when I start practicing again but there seems still a ways to go for that.
legendary
Activity: 3038
Merit: 1032
RIP Mommy
justice by a committee of people who are not smart enough to get out of jury duty, don't want to be there, take what the judge says as gospel, and wouldn't know a Bitcoin from a hole in the ground

Exactly why EVERY bitcoiner should be prepared and absolutely willing to serve on a jury and nullify totalitarianism.
staff
Activity: 4284
Merit: 8808
I'm pretty shocked to see some of the comments in this thread.  BurtW has nothing to prove here, and those of you attacking him should be ashamed of yourselves for attacking a victim.
legendary
Activity: 3080
Merit: 1688
lose: unfind ... loose: untight
Maybe someone should stop thinking about things like BitLicense and start thinking on how to properly seize and punish those who use cryptocurrencies for illegal activities and a way to protect those who are wrongly arrested and/or investigated.

Maybe we should think about how to properly punish wrongdoers. The fact that some crimes employ crypto is irrelevant.

While I know the doctrine of 'money laundering' being a crime currently exists, I find these laws insane. There is nothing evil or immoral about moving money about in any fashion. The mere movement of money harms no one. Some time back, lazy enforcers were somehow able to enact laws that they could use when they were not able to actually prove real wrongdoing. It sounds reasonable on its face, but from first principles, there is nothing good about this. Now we've reached the point where innocent people routinely are prosecuted for things which have no evil intent.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
So, someone must risk going to jail and total financial ruin in front of a jury in order to impress you?  Have you personally had to face five years in prison on a coin flip?  Even if you have and even if you did take it to trail so what?  My wife and I did struggle with the whole thing over many months.  We went back and forth on it.  Sometimes thinking we should get our day in court to prove beyond doubt that they were wrong and risk five the years in prison.  You can sit there behind you keyboard in your easy chair anonymously spouting your shit but your opinion simply does not matter.

Let's hear your story of bravery and bravado "proved my innocence at all cost" against a similar situation.

Can't regale you with tales of my daring-do, always having thanked my lucky stars for plea deals. At the time, a public defender was all I could afford.
On the other hand, I never trotted out my family to help me beg on the internet to cover my legal expenses, and never plead out when I was 100% innocent.
Should I bother mentioning that I never told sob stories about the US legal system failing me, after opting out of a jury trial & having agreed to a deal?
So you have never face a situation even remotely similar to mine.  Fair enough.

What part of "I have, but handled it differently" didn't come across?
I see.  I misunderstood you.  So, you used a public defender in a complex Federal felony case?  I assumed the charges were for DUI or something like that - my bad.  At any rate anyone who would use a public defender in a Federal felony case is much braver than I am.  I don't have the stones to trust my life to someone who basically works for the prosecution and can't be truly adversarial on my behalf without risking all future deals with the prosecution.

My hat's off to you o brave one.  You showed me.

You are also, obviously, more principled than me due to your hard stance on never pleading or dealing when you were totally innocent.  I love your "I am innocent and willing to pay whatever it takes to prove it" stance.  Good for you.  

I tip my hat to you o principled one.  You showed me.

newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
Not helping the object of your affections, Carlton. You're embarrassing him. 4realz.
Why are you upset? If I, somehow, cheapened your feelings for Burt by telling you that they're normal and common, I'm really sorry.
Accept my apology plz? Are we good?
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
What part of "I have, but handled it differently" didn't come across?

The part that involves elucidating just how terrible you are at trolling. How does it feel to be so poorly accomplished in an activity you enjoy so much?
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
So, someone must risk going to jail and total financial ruin in front of a jury in order to impress you?  Have you personally had to face five years in prison on a coin flip?  Even if you have and even if you did take it to trail so what?  My wife and I did struggle with the whole thing over many months.  We went back and forth on it.  Sometimes thinking we should get our day in court to prove beyond doubt that they were wrong and risk five the years in prison.  You can sit there behind you keyboard in your easy chair anonymously spouting your shit but your opinion simply does not matter.

Let's hear your story of bravery and bravado "proved my innocence at all cost" against a similar situation.

Can't regale you with tales of my daring-do, always having thanked my lucky stars for plea deals. At the time, a public defender was all I could afford.
On the other hand, I never trotted out my family to help me beg on the internet to cover my legal expenses, and never plead out when I was 100% innocent.
Should I bother mentioning that I never told sob stories about the US legal system failing me, after opting out of a jury trial & having agreed to a deal?
So you have never face a situation even remotely similar to mine.  Fair enough.

What part of "I have, but handled it differently" didn't come across?
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
So, someone must risk going to jail and total financial ruin in front of a jury in order to impress you?  Have you personally had to face five years in prison on a coin flip?  Even if you have and even if you did take it to trail so what?  My wife and I did struggle with the whole thing over many months.  We went back and forth on it.  Sometimes thinking we should get our day in court to prove beyond doubt that they were wrong and risk five the years in prison.  You can sit there behind you keyboard in your easy chair anonymously spouting your shit but your opinion simply does not matter.

Let's hear your story of bravery and bravado "proved my innocence at all cost" against a similar situation.

Can't regale you with tales of my daring-do, always having thanked my lucky stars for plea deals. At the time, a public defender was all I could afford.
On the other hand, I never trotted out my family to help me beg on the internet to cover my legal expenses, and never plead out when I was 100% innocent.
Should I bother mentioning that I never told sob stories about the US legal system failing me, after opting out of a jury trial & having agreed to a deal?
So you have never faced a situation even remotely similar to mine.  Fair enough.
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
So, someone must risk going to jail and total financial ruin in front of a jury in order to impress you?  Have you personally had to face five years in prison on a coin flip?  Even if you have and even if you did take it to trail so what?  My wife and I did struggle with the whole thing over many months.  We went back and forth on it.  Sometimes thinking we should get our day in court to prove beyond doubt that they were wrong and risk five the years in prison.  You can sit there behind you keyboard in your easy chair anonymously spouting your shit but your opinion simply does not matter.

Let's hear your story of bravery and bravado "proved my innocence at all cost" against a similar situation.

Can't regale you with tales of my daring-do, always having thanked my lucky stars for plea deals. At the time, a public defender was all I could afford.
On the other hand, I never trotted out my family to help me beg on the internet to cover my legal expenses, and never plead out when I was 100% innocent.
Should I bother mentioning that I never told sob stories about the US legal system failing me, after opting out of a jury trial & having agreed to a deal?
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
I have read your post above. You chose to plead out, and then grumble about it.
I would buy your ideological protestations if you, certain of being in the right, took your case to the jury. You didn't. So I do not.
First, I did not plead out.  Yes, they pretty much immediately offered a lesser felony if I admitted guilt.  I did not.  Eventually they offered a small misdemeanor if only I would admit guilt.  I refuse their offer.  After many months and almost $200,000 in legal fees they decided to drop the case against me and against all the seized property if I agreed to let them keep part of the seized property (basically to save face on their part).  This was not a plea deal.  In a plea deal you must admit guilt.  I did not.  This was a straight payoff to avoid the huge costs of fighting something like this.  You may be sitting on $400,000 in liquid assets you would be willing to spend on justice by a committee of people who are not smart enough to get out of jury duty, don't want to be there, take what the judge says as gospel, and wouldn't know a Bitcoin from a hole in the ground - that may be your situation - it is not mine.  In the end we decided for our family's sake the cost and risk was not worth it.

Maybe you don't realize this but even if I won all the cases they do not pay your legal fees and there is no recourse to get your legal fees reimbursed.  And to add insult to injury even if you win, legal costs are generally not tax deductible.  Add that to your calculations there Mr. "you should take it to trial if you are innocent".

So, someone must risk going to jail and total financial ruin in front of a jury in order to impress you?  Have you personally had to face five years in prison on a coin flip?  Even if you have and even if you did take it to trail so what?  My wife and I did struggle with the whole thing over many months.  We went back and forth on it.  Sometimes thinking we should get our day in court to prove beyond doubt that they were wrong and risk the five years in prison.  You can sit there behind you keyboard in your easy chair anonymously spouting your shit but your opinion simply does not matter.

Let's hear your story of bravery and bravado Mr. "proved my innocence at all cost" against a similar situation.
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