TIL that the actor for McGruff the Crime Dog is in prison for drug-/weapons-related charges.
John Morales, the actor who played the crime-fighting cartoon character McGruff the Crime Dog, was sentenced to 16 years in prison stemming from a 2011 arrest in which police seized 1,000 marijuana plants, 27 weapons – including a grenade launcher – and 9,000 rounds of ammunition from his home.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcgruff-the-crime-dog-actor-gets-16-years-in-prison/Open linkView original on lemmy.world479
Comments60
But what "crime" did he commit? Sounds like he was just a prepper that wanted to get high.
What is the crime officer? Enjoying a meal? A succulent weapons grade explosive meal?
Also, note that the arrest predates Texas marijuana decriminalization
GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY GRENADE LAUNCHER
GENTLEMEN, THIS IS DEMOCRACY MANIFEST!
And you, sir, are you waiting to receive my limp plants?
Although don’t many decriminalization or legalization laws also have an upper limit on how many plants you can grow for personal use? I could still see some intent to distribute charge with 1000 plants
I still don't see a victim of crime here. All I see is a victim of unjust laws
God forbid someone pick up a horticulture hobby.
So, technically yes. But Texas decriminalization came out of a court case around what constituted medical marijuana under a 2019 law. In this case, the issue was a court ruling in which cops had to prove a certain Delta-9 THC level in a product in order to seek prosecution. And the process for determining that value was so expensive and unreliable that enforcing the law was functionally impossible.
Subsequently, a number of major municipalities and DAs basically gave up on prosecuting these cases, leading to de facto legalization.
Makes sense. FWIW I’m not defending the law, just seeking all the info
Hol' up, it says a grenade launcher, which is actually legal to own, it doesn't say he had illegal HE grenades. Important distinction.
The problem is "weed" and even if legal "weed+guns" wasn't until 2023 (and even still kinda a grey area but basically illegal).
It says he was convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned.
Yes, but unless I missed it, not for having "grenades."
It also just so happens that at the time of his conviction (well kinda sorta still, actually) it was illegal to have weed and guns at the same time. That and anywhere weed is legal even now, 1,000 plants is well above the commonly single digit limit on plants unless he has a commercial growers permit of some sort (but then, he could probably still have the guns/launcher actually).
Free my man he didn't do shit.
You almost certainly did.
That too, certainly. Probably could have been convicted of more if the DA and the Judge had been extra sadistic.
Check again. Find me anything anywhere that says he has high explosive rounds for the launcher. I'll wait, because you can't, because he didn't.
Sounds like a good semeritan to me
Having guns? In Texas?? THE CRIMINAL SWINE!
Having weed, in Texas, when it was a big deal.
So terrible dangerous of him...(Clutches pearls) Someone might have gotten high off all that devil's lettuce!!
Have you never seen the size of roaches in Texas? And they fly!
You legally can though, just chalk rounds instead of HE.
Probably to defend themselves against all those feral hogs
Yet, civil war may still come and civilians will need all the fire power they can get.
The "launcher" is probably one of those under barrel AR-15 attachments which is trivial to get (expensive and might also require the steps below, but that's a one time thing).
The grenades though:
To legally purchase, make, or possess a Destructive Device (DD) you must:
And you have to do the forms and pay the $200 for each grenade individually.
Until 2023, it was federally illegal to possess any illegal drugs along with a firearm, and drug users were barred from buying firearms.
Fortunately marijuana isnt a drug
You know, I don't think I've ever seen someone take this position. Pro/anti legalization yes, but never "it's not a drug" (it's a feature).
You're wrong, but at least you're novelly wrong!
Katt Williams literally has a set where the whole premise is that weed isn't a drug; it's a plant. It's not even a novel position.
That's an untenable position. I mean, Cocaine is a plant, too.
Chewing on a coca leaf really isn't the same as processing the plant into cocaine. By the logic of the comedian, buds are plants but concentrates are drugs. 😌
And in both cases, missing the point. Categorize based on the chemistry, not the source of the chemical.
I'd love to have "cocaine light" available, maybe not chewing the leaves but in some form or another, that is less intense than the well known powder. Basically just a step above coffee, would be amazing for my long work days.
Well shucks, I suppose I should preface everything new I encounter with "to me" going forward, since that can't be expected to be implied through grammar alone...
How is weed a drug, but alcohol and tobacco aren't? If it's illegal to possess a firearm with weed, why isn't it illegal with liquor or cigarettes?
What? Alcohol and tobacco are both drugs - as with caffeine, they are not illegal ones, but they very much are still drugs. Not sure where you're getting the idea they're not.
And the second part, racism probably? (though posession of a firearm while intoxicated is usually an exacerbating (not the right term sorry) circumstance)
There's a famous quote from Schwarzenegger as CA governor where he said "It's not a drug, it's a leaf."
Well, it's not the leaves, it's the buds.
Unless you like headaches.
But also
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug
Now, while I may consider it essential to my diet, it very clearly fits the definition of a drug. But so does LSD and Psylocybin, not all drugs are bad.
It's not novel at all wtf
I think the majority of humanity would agree that cannabis is not a drug
I've got no idea if you're trolling or not. But on the chance that you're not, drugs are either synthesized or bio-derived.
I suppose an argument could be made that under that definition cannabis is a plant and THC/CBD are the drugs, but that's dubiously semantic at best since the consumption of cannabis is what produces the effect.
By that definition, water is a drug
Yes, your point being?
1000 plants is definitely a grow op and the weapons were to protect it
Good luck justifying that you need 1000 plants for your personal consumption
Locked up for harming no one. These are the types of people who should be getting a pardon!
Sure seems like he intended to
I don't know about the other 27 weapons, but the grenade launcher was probably just for hunting.
Nah that's mainly for fishing, you can use it for hunting, but an RPG is way better for hunting.
How do you expect him to take a bite out of crime? I think he was just true to his word, police aren't stopping the real criminals so he just got more serious.
Right. Because a car's primary purpose is to drive over people. And people who have a lot of cars are more likely to plot mass murder than those who don't. Great logic.
They should've known; it's not like he was called McGruff the good dog.
I do hope the judge looked him dead in the eyes at the sentencing and said "Bad dog" before rubbing his nose in the evidence bags.
On the positive side, he should be out after 2.13 human years. Sooner with good behavior and completion of an obedience class from a licensed training academy.
He went undercover and got too deep.
So the police abused another victim. Not surprising
you have to do the crimes, in order to be an expert on it.
I just realized that if you spell 'irony' as 'ironi' then it sounds like a brand of fortified pasta.
After all these years, I've finally learned what Lemon Demon was talking about.