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Glenn "Cannon Balls" Hughes, a mail carrier that took it upon himself to fly a gyrocopter into restricted space in Washington, D.C. to deliver messages to Congress, is now facing more charges and possible prison time, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Shortly after being arrested, he was charged with crimes that could have put him behind bars for up to five years. Now additional charges have been added to raise that to a possible nine-and-a-half years, almost double the time he faced at first.
Amid the debate, lawmakers have suggested that the laws under which Hughes faced charges should be updated with tougher penalties.
When Hughes was first charged in April, he faced fewer counts and a possible sentence of fewer than five years in prison.
The list of charges seems a bit over the top, but that level of vindictiveness from our government seems the norm these days, OMO.
"I am more convinced than ever that I did the right thing," Hughes said in a Wednesday evening interview.
The charges include two felonies: one count each of operating as an airman without an airman's certificate and violating registration requirements involving aircraft. In addition, he was indicted on four misdemeanor counts: three counts of violation of national defense airspace, and one of operating a vehicle falsely labeled as a postal carrier.
If Hughes is convicted of either of the two felonies, he will be required to forfeit his gyrocopter to the federal government.
Hughes called his potential sentence "excessive" because of the nature of his action: an act of civil disobedience where no one was hurt, and no property was damaged.
"How is that worth 9½ years?" he said. "I think the prosecutor has an uphill battle."
Hughes said he is not certain what will happen at Thursday's arraignment. But he said he is open to the idea of a plea bargain, if it means no jail time. But he also is prepared for the possibility that his case could go in front of a jury.
I'm not certain I would have his optimism about the prosecution having an uphill battle, but I do hope he is right about that.
Disclaimer: I take full blame for the 'Cannon Balls' moniker in the title summary. It was meant to be a statement and show of my admiration for G. Hughes, who I see as worthy of respect, whether you agree with his cause, or not.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by nyder on Friday May 22 2015, @07:24AM
I imagine they will keep piling on stupid charges and keep raising the amount of time they are going to threaten him with, since this is how they do business. They will freeze his assets so he can't defend himself, paint as a traitor and try to get him to plea bargain something for them.
Guess they don't really want this to go to trial, because this guy isn't a traitor, he isn't a terrorist, and it was part of a peaceful protest.
At least, this is how I see it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wantkitteh on Friday May 22 2015, @07:49AM
As peaceful a protest as it may have been, and as shoot-the-messenger as this whole thing has become, protesters initiating direct action have to expect this sort of digging through the rule book to identify everything they can possibly be charged with. I suspect pretty much everything they charge him with will stick and his fate will come down to the discretion and leeway given to the sentencing judge.
IANAA, but offering plea bargains while interfering with someone's ability to properly defend themselves seem to have become something of a 1-2 punch for prosecutors that side of the pond. This case, however, would seem to me to be the one time a prosecutor wouldn't want to offer a plea bargain - in poker terms, that's fronting strong to protect your weak hand, and this case doesn't look weak at all; it's all technical violations and they've got him bang to rights on all of them. No plea bargain, no interference, the guy goes down and everyone involved walks away able to look directly into the cameras and say "anyone else planning a stunt like that, this is what happens, no dirty tricks, no heavy-handed tactics" with a completely straight face.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @10:47AM
>and they've got him bang to rights on all of them.
Yippie fucking do.
They write the statutes.
They got us all dead to rights.
EVERYTHING we would want to do is Illegal.
Marry pretty young girls. Prison.
Have machineguns. Prison.
Think of it. Prison.
This is a horrible CUNTry.
Like every western cuntry.
Men are not respected and are not ALLOWED to EVER have what they might want.
The only solution is to destroy the country, make it a ruin,
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @01:12PM
Jury Nullification.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by mendax on Friday May 22 2015, @08:56AM
The piling on of charges against a person is a common tactic used by district attorneys and U.S. attorneys to force a plea bargain. I know a guy (one of the people I regularly correspond with in prisons since that's something I do to make the world a better place) who when arrested was facing four federal indictments which, if convicted on all four would have sent him to prison for 120 years PLUS several state charges which would have sent him away for considerably longer.
As the case dragged on, a plea bargain eventually was offered: Essentially 5 years in state prison at 50% and 7 years in federal prison at 80%. Prosecutors do not want to take cases to trial because they are very expensive and consume a lot of resources, money in their budgets as well as in the public defender's budget since most people don't have the money for a private attorney. If everyone demanded a speedy trial (in other words, did not waive time) and refused plea bargains, the criminal justice system would literally fall apart.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @09:10AM
Sure go ahead and spend money on a private attorney. Your attorney will tell you to take the plea bargain because attorneys don't want the criminal system to fall apart either. There's so much money to be made in telling defendants to take the plea bargain!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @10:43AM
> and refused plea bargains, the criminal justice system would literally fall apart.
No, they would just start extrajudicial executing men.
This is a woman's country, a feminist state. They will not take the heel off our knecks no matter what.
I really hope for an invasion.
I hate this country.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday May 22 2015, @07:25PM
With your views, I'm sure they would be happy for you to leave.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2015, @08:42PM
>With your views, I'm sure they would be happy for you to leave.
They're bombing every country where men could marry little girls.
Go where?