Posted on 11/30/2016 12:28:42 PM PST by Gamecock
You're pedaling, on a bicycle, and you don't *see* a turtle ahead of you, in the road? WTH? I mean, how *big* must a turtle be, for you not to go around it? Maybe this cyclist deserved.... Geesh.
You know, if you are 51, riding a motorized bike, at 3:15 AM; you probably already made some poor life decisions.
The turtle causing your demise was a messenger for the rest of us.
Kudos to the police.
My daughter is a lawyer. A man came in her office to see her because he had been arrested for 'accepting' 10 eggs (turtle eggs). The man who gave him the eggs was a wildlife officer. The man who was arrested was getting into importing and exporting this species of terrapin. Now this terrapin, a painted terrapin, lives from Connecticut to the tip of Texas. You can go on EBAY and buy hundreds or thousands of these terrapins. But those found in the wild seem to hold some special position among the wildlife officials.
As soon as the defendant was asked, he said he could not transport these eggs because he was still waiting for his government papers approving this business. The wildlife official (unknown to defendant) persisted and finally asked him to just take the eggs and put them in his incubator. Finally, just being nice,, he said he would do that. Withiin seconds after accepting 10 eggs he was arrested. This case goes to trial (Federal Court) in January. He can get as much as 20 years for this.
So the man, who had no record, who capitulated to help a stranger with this exportation was not targeted for being a recidivist, but the Feds turned him into a person coerced to commenting a felony (holding 10 eggs and now faces 20 years. )
Things seem disproportionate to me.
What a crock!
I’ve even become cynical toward the DEP guys; over the years, I’ve known many and they seem to be getting corrupted like many LEOs. A few are straight arrows. Oldtimers.
Sounds like no helmet.
Like the stranger said, sometimes you hit the turtle, and sometimes the turtle hits you.
Maybe maybe not...I have a moped that I use. If I need to go between 5 to 10 miles, I use my moped. My cars are mostly gasguzzlers, F 250 crew cab, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Aviator.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.