Court shoots down man's joke (Man imprisoned for practical joke)

Charlotte Observer ^ | 5/4/02 | nichole monroe bell

[visagoth]

Court shoots down man's joke

Charlotte Observer

A macabre practical joke has landed a Chester County man 15 years in federal prison without parole.

In May 2000, Jeffrey Price Barber, 44, tried to play a joke on his wife by firing a round from a .22-caliber rifle, smearing ketchup on his face and body, then lying on the floor in a bedroom of his house, according to a statement released Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Columbia.

His wife, after hearing the shot and seeing her husband covered in what she thought was blood, called 911. A sheriff's deputy who arrived at the scene found Barber and the rifle with one spent round of ammunition. Investigators later found several other guns and ammunition at Barber's home, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Because previous felony convictions for violent crimes prohibited him from having a gun, Barber was charged with illegally possessing the .22-caliber rifle, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The previous convictions also meant Barber faced a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life. Barber was sentenced in federal court in Columbia on Thursday.

Barber, who pleaded guilty to the offense, must serve five years of supervised release after getting out of jail.

[Lurking Libertarian]

According to the posted article, he had prior felony convictions for "violent crimes." I'm a supporter of the RKBA, but not for those with a history of convictions of violent felonies.

[CougarGA7]

What a Brain Donnor.

This is just another example that Darwinism does not apply to the human race.

Darwinism is "the stupid animals will kill themselves off so they dont produce, more stupid animals."

This guy is a special kind of stupid.

[Temple Owl]

Oh Yea! He probably takes his whoopee cushion.

[Mike K]

That's hysterical. I hope your wife got even!

[LuLuLuLu]

Yeah, the guy IS a moron, but I have to wonder at a judicial system that gives him 15 years.

If he'd killed his wife, he'd probably be out in 5.

[JmyBryan]

Some trial lawyer will connect this to Warner Bros and get this guy a million bucks because it wasn't really his fault.

[Revolting cat!]

My wife was not amused.

So now you guys get computers in prison? Or are you out on parole now?

[Xenalyte]

Oh, my Lord, that is a HOOT. And how long did you sleep on the couch?

[coloradan]

That may be so - however, the "felon in possession of a firearm" law makes no distinction between violent felonies and non-violent ones (such as drug violations) and also makes no distinction between people caught with firearms during the commission of a violent crime and a rap sheet a mile long, vs. those with a single felony count 30 years ago, with no run-ins since then. In both sets of cases, it's a mandatory minimum, with no parole and no time off for good behavior.

[DoughtyOne]

You're probably right. Thanks for the comment.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the comments. I've not been impressed by the NRAs activites, although I know there are a lot of people out there that swear by them. It has seemed to me that they have given up a lot for the few victories they've won.

[luvbach1]

He should have popped up quickly enough to prevent wife from calling 911. He still would have scared her. Of course such a joke is not funny. Must have been watching too much Jackass.

[Almondjoy]

It's moron's like this that make gun laws seem good! Unfortunely for the rest of us most people don't get the fact that these moron's still get the guns anyways! Ugh.. I almost feel like it's time to get a new gene pool going.

[Catspaw]

His wife, after hearing the shot and seeing her husband covered in what she thought was blood, called 911.

A double Darwin award. I would've thought, "this is my chance for a freebie!" plugged the sucker a second time.

[Sunshine Sister]

LOL. You are hysterically funny!

[Catspaw]

I REALLY hate practical jokes :-))