Here is a story with a little more detail.
Store owner says garbage picking sentences too harsh
The owner thinks that the sentence is too harsh but if you read it it says that they climbed a fence and broke into a locked area to get the stuff.
I think what bothers me is that they have no remorse or even acknowledge that they did anything wrong. How can you not know that breaking into a locked area and taking stuff is wrong?
In fact, it bears posting here before it's pulled from the net.
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Published: Sep 02, 2006 4:58 PM EST
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - An owner of a produce store says six months in jail is too much for two Rainbow Family members who plucked discarded fruit and vegetables from the trash this summer.
Jonathon Hieb, co-owner of the Sweet Pea Produce, said Saturday he told the prosecutor he didn't want anything to do with the case against Giles Charle, 24, and David Siller, 27, arrested June 26 taking overripe fruit and vegetables from a locked garbage area at his store.
Charle, of Somersworth, N.H., and Siller, of Wayne, Pa., admitted they went over the fence to get to the garbage. They were charged with felony second-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft. But on Wednesday they accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing, agreeing to a 6-month sentence at the Routt County Jail to avoid a felony conviction.
The two were on their way to the Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering in northern Routt County, about 30 miles north of Steamboat Springs. The weeklong event drew thousands of campers to a National Forest. Hundreds were cited by federal authorities for gathering without required permits.
Authorities say Charle and Siller took five cucumbers, four or five apricots, two bundles of asparagus spears and a handful of cherries from a garbage can.
"We didn't have any intention of committing a crime or doing anything wrong," Charle told the Steamboat Pilot & Today newspaper. "We had just come in town and we were prepared to buy groceries from a store but everything was closed."
Charle's mother, Shaune McCarthy Charle, told the newspaper she was "absolutely flabbergasted" by the sentence.
Hieb said he told Assistant District Attorney Kerry St. James he didn't want the men prosecuted and thought his input would have carried some weight. He said if they were going to be prosecuted, 10 to 20 hours of community service would have been punishment enough.
Steamboat Springs is about 110 miles northwest of Denver.
They hopped the fence to enter the property, then broke the lock on the dumpster. So they were looking at being sentenced for 2nd degree burglary, not 3rd. No wonder they were so eager to accept any deal offered to them. What amazes me is how they can keep a straight face while swearing they didn't know this was a criminal act.
Interesting. Until reading this, I figured they'd just reached into a garbage can sitting alongside the sidewalk. Going over a fence is enough for me to say they blew it bigtime -- they knew they were breaking the law. BTW, I read it as they climbed a fence that had a lock on the gate, not that they busted a lock. Nonetheless, I'm in agreement that they obviously knew they were doing the wrong thing.
Anyway, the store own doesn't just think the sentences were harsh, he said he wanted nothing to do with the case against the guys, which probably means he didn't testify against them. That to me says that it really was all about the cops deciding to come down hard on a couple of hippies and try to teach them all a lesson.
If they're still not admitting they broke the law, and aren't expressing remorse at this point, they're idiots. In fact, I'd bet that part of the harsh sentence is that they acted like idiots in the courtroom too.