Alfred Anaya Put Secret Compartments in Cars. The DEA Put Him in Prison (2013)

Re:Alfred Anaya Put Secret Compartments in Cars. The DEA Put... by valar_m on Sunday October 12, 2014 @02:01AM (#8444539)

I can't agree that the getaway driver scenario is analogous. The difference is attenuation from the illegal act. The getaway drive directly took part in the illegal act itself.

Here, Anaya never saw or touched drugs. He had no hand in planning any drug smuggling operations. He was never told what was going on, and had no legal duty to ask. That is not willful blindness.

I think a better analogy is the store clerk who sells rolling papers and blunt wrappers to the same people who never buy tobacco. Would you say that a store clerk under those facts is also guilty of a crime?

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Re:Alfred Anaya Put Secret Compartments in Cars. The DEA Put... by kelnos on Sunday October 12, 2014 @03:20AM (#8444674)

Read a bit more (more than just Wired's ridiculously editorialized article that's written to make you want to love this guy). It's pretty clear to me that he knew full well what his traps were being used for, and even specifically used code words about trap capacity to avoid mentioning drugs.

Seeing the crime being committed or participating in it directly is not necessary for a conspiracy charge. He knowingly helped people smuggle drugs. I think that's a perfectly valid charge.

I think our drug laws are pretty messed up overall, and 24 years is a ridiculously unfair sentence for this sort of thing, but I think the evidence gathered by the prosecution very adequately painted Anaya as a co-conspirator.

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