Man could get life as habitual offender in syrup theft

boston.com ^ | 11-2-05 | ap

[Rakkasan1]

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. --Life could get a lot less sweet for a Putney man whose conviction in the sale of stolen maple syrup makes him eligible for life in prison as a habitual offender.

[Rakkasan1]

I bet his priors were for stealing flour ,butter and milk.

[battlegearboat]

The judge may be a waffle man.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Will the charges stick?

[ExpatGator]

SWWWEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTT!

[dfwgator]

Does he know the Muffin Man?

[July 4th]

The Muffin Man? The MUFFIN MAN?!

[dfwgator]

Yes, the one on Drury Lane.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Stealing maple syrup in Vermont is probably viewed as seriously as rustling cattle is in Texas.

[pageonetoo]

He will get twenty years. In the meantime, the guy down the street just killed a guy. He might get three hours in the broom closet.

I understand punishing this felony, but it is a commerce crime. I do not understand the myriad of pile-ons, that have come to life in our society. From hate crimes to habitual offenders, we see unfair sentencing, while many violent criminals are allowed to repeat, repeat, and repeat... becaUSE they get off on a technicality like Miranda "rights". (maybe the Supremes can take another look at that one...)

I remember when a rapist got the death penalty. Now, we see them get off with a slap! Murder in the ghetto gets you two years, since it is black on black, but murder used to be a capital crime, as well, as kidnapping, etc.

Hang the rapists and pedophiles. Give the drug users some treatment, and put people in their jail cells, that are a real harm to society.

The key is to KEEP the violence there!

[billorites]

Eat me!

[AZLiberty]

Does this have something to do with the sweet smell in New York last week?

[A-10]

He stole 75 gallons. He stole a mans livelyhood. At approx 30/ gallon (very conservative estimate) it's well over 2,000 worth of stuff, which is no misdemeanor charge.

Many producers barely make any profit on the stuff, and the money they do make covers their annual taxes at best.

Dump the scum.

[mbynack]

I find it hard to be sympathetic to someone like this, too. If you have two prior felony convictions and know that the next one will send you to jail for 20 years, maybe you should consider not committing any more felonies. The fact that this guy didn'tlearn anything from the first couple of arrests probably means that we're all better off with him in prison for 20 years.

[Rakkasan1]

Kerry's a judge ,too ?

[pageonetoo]

I understand punishing this felony, but it is a commerce crime. -page

He stole 75 gallons. He stole a mans livelyhood. At approx 30/ gallon (very conservative estimate) it's well over 2,000 worth of stuff, which is no misdemeanor charge. -Warthog

I think he needs to be in jail, as well, but did you read what I had to say. Your post says "not"...

The cost to produce maple syrup is in manpower. It "boils down to " the costs of his labor... In the article, which you may not have read, either, it states the EXACT value of the syrup.

I did not say free him. I just believe that the crime should not receive double punishment. That seems to fly in the face of "cruel and (or) unusual", but what do I know?

It's ort of like stopping you for speeding, and giving you an extra ticket for not wearing your seatbelt...

[A-10]

I only read the part of the article up to where it described his crime.

Yes, he deserves punishment, and I am still on the fence about 3-strikes type laws. Going to jail for life for cashing bad checks is ridiculous, but some of the people snagged by these laws truly deserve life in jail to protect society and act as a deterrent for future criminals, validity of the deterrent argument notwithstanding.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Ruled by men - "Oh please, be merdciful." - or ruled by law? Democracy, the rule of fools by fools.

[Smokin' Joe]

That was a wholesale price in the article. The perp was on parole.

[Constantine XIII]

They take their maple syrup VERY seriously in Vermont.

[FreeInWV]

There is a lifer in CA. His third strike was cheating on a drivers test.