Uniquely Qualified
A man and his girlfriend were accused of being major crystal meth -- methamphetamine -- suppliers for the Florida panhandle and southeast Alabama. All the cops needed was solid evidence to get their conviction.
Walton County, Fla., deputies jailed the couple on drug charges in August after an eight-month-long undercover investigation, but they were hoping to find evidence of a much larger manufacturing and trafficking operation.
When they arrested the couple, investigators took water samples from the toilet in their mobile home. The results are finally back.
In February, officials determined that the toilet water had 412 grams of meth dissolved in it. Possession of more than 200 grams of methamphetamine calls for a mandatory-minimum 15-year prison sentence.
The couple already faced charges of manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. With the toilet water results, more charges are pending against Jason Clayborn Hughes, 40, and -- yes! Crystal Beth Williams, 21.
Sources: Panama City News Herald and Northwest Florida Daily News
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Most Recent Comments
Posted by Mike from Dallas on September 12, 2010:
Don't know if this is pertinent, but...
I'm always cynical about those claims that something costs the taxpayers X dollars per person. The total federal budget for 2010 was $3.55 Trillion. With a population of nearly 310 million citizens (NOT counting taxpaying aliens, legal or illegal), that comes to a cost of less than $12,000 per year per citizen.
Granted, prisons are funded by state budgets, not federal, but somehow I doubt that the state burden per taxpayer is over 3 times higher just for the prison portion of the budget.
However, the answer to the inmate dilemma is quite simple: Either incarcerate them, or let them run free to continue doing whatever it is that is harming society.
Posted by Felix, Dutch Flat on September 12, 2010:
No one said it's $40,000 a year per taxpayer. That's the cost of guards, building prisons, etc. It's a simple calculation -- look at the prison budget, divide by the number of prisoners.
Posted by Mike from Dallas on September 12, 2010:
$40K per year for a prisoner. With a U.S. population approaching 310 million, that's 0.013ยข per year per citizen. Yes, just over 1/100 of a cent per year per citizen for 1 prisoner. Now, with a U.S. prison population of 2.1 million, that means each and every citizen is paying $270 a year for all prisoners. Don't know about you, but I pay more than that for cable TV. Or internet. And it doesn't even cover a half month's payment on my truck, let alone the whole year.
Yeah, I don't mind paying $270 a year to keep 2.1 million dangerous people off the streets.