Have You Ever Looked Fear In The Face And Said I Just Don’t Care?

Today, without a search warrant, a cellular phone, laptop, camera, GPS, inverter, power cords, and hell knows what else, were seized from my vehicle by City of Charlottesville police officers.

Someone let me know when harassment, intimidation, and coercion laws can be equally applied to Law Enforcement members. Just don’t bother letting me know by phone since they’ve removed that method of contact from me.

What. Ever.

Hundreds of Marijuana Plants Seized in Albemarle County
August 2010

Hundreds of marijuana plants were seized in Free Union and nearby areas of Albemarle County during two raids Wednesday.

Residents of the western part of Albemarle County reported seeing a military helicopter circling an area near Wesley Chapel Road Wednesday. They also reported seeing what looked like marijuana plants being taken from a nearby property.

While authorities are not releasing much detail on the raid, the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force confirmed that officers did remove marijuana plants from two different locations in the county.

One bust happened on the west side of the county, and the other was on the south side.

Officers say ten marijuana gardens were spotted by the helicopter crew and 485 plants were seized.

Witnesses in the western part of the county say there were many Virginia State Police troopers canvasing the area, carrying what looked like military guns.

The Albemarle County Police Department added that two firearms and drug-related paraphernalia were also confiscated during the raids.

However, police would not say if any arrests were made and refused to make any further comment until the investigation is complete.

(Source)

Internothing

Have been without in-home Internet connection for ever. Ever, I tell ya! After waiting eons for the repairman to come riding up on his white horse in his white truck, my modem and some outdoor cable wire zippuhwhastuff were replaced. Hoorah! Long live my new hero from Franklin County.

When I originally called the provider about the problem and the woman on the phone told me the first available fix-it date was days away, I shrieked in her ear and about fainted. She immediately assured me that they would compensate me for the time I was off-line. I immediately informed her they would have to also pay for my gravestone because I was going to die if I had to go that long without the Internet. She promptly laughed at me. Laughed at me!

Fortunately I have a laptop and wi-fi to thank for my survival.

I plan to hop back into updating I HeArTE JADE post-haste. Well once I’m adequately caught up on what’s been going on across the rest of Cyberland, anyway.

Shooting (The Breeze, That Is)

Mutual Grumpin’

Dodge 4x4 KGY-2134

Quondam News

June 2008

Jury indicts Va. Beach man in drug scheme

A federal grand jury in Charlottesville this week indicted a Virginia Beach man in connection with drug activity.

Kelvin Freeman, 45, has been charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine powder and crack cocaine. According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia, the charge was levied in connection with the distribution of more than 50 grams of crack cocaine and more than five kilograms of cocaine in Central Virginia.

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement task force, the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police.

If Freeman is convicted, he will face life imprisonment and/or a $4 million fine. He also may forfeit about $2 million, an acre of property in Northampton and some stock shares.

(Source)

Keepin’ It Google

Daily Progress
March 2005

[...]
The Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement task force, a collaborative effort of local and federal law enforcement, continues to report high numbers of drug seizures. This year, JADE officials recorded their second-largest cocaine seizure in a decade with 2,635 grams.

The agency announced in its 2004 annual report the disruption of three Jamaican-led drug-distribution groups and another criminal group with leadership in New York.

Since its inception in 1995, JADE has arrested 1,906 people.

“The more they send away, there are those who will take their places,” local defense lawyer Fred Heblich said. “The harsh penalties have not resulted in a decline in drug trafficking. My impression is that there is more drug trafficking here than 15 years ago. Certainly not less.”

Yet Moore And More Funnies From Law Enforcement

Members of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have to report to their agency any instance images of their persons, cars, homes, et cetera, are publicized. Least that’s what ATF Agent Michael Moore told me while standing in my living room; he alleged the policy is a matter of “safety.” But what do you think the chances are that the smooth Mr. Moore went yapping to the ATF Bureau when the above picture of him was published by PilotOnline? Probably not as good as the chances of him doing so now that I’ve put it on my equally harmless site.

Reminds me of Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Sgt. Joe Hatter whining over me showing everyone, via I HeArTE JADE, how I discovered where he lives, then, two months after the Task Force and the Virginia State Police use that as the basis for my arrest and two days after my end-result clone convictions on obstruction of justice charges, that same Sgt. Hatter appeared in video and print in a worldwide news story -- about how the City of Charlottesville got him a house merely for being a police officer -- which featured him, his residence, plus his wife and children. Seriously. Look it up.

The unction of these lawmen is deserving of typewritten unrestrained ridicule. Which I will commence. The second I stop laughing at them.

Motorcadence Monday

Mail Call!

Cryptic Grape Juice

So I’ve gathered that members of the ATF can be identified, in, uh, certain places, under lowercase first initial/middle initial/last name. For example:

jastoltz
mamoore
jrhealey

While US Attorneys go with capitalized first initial/last name:

AGiorno
NHealey

Hmm… I wonder if Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Agent David Stone finished that report of his yet. I think he should email me a copy.

Blah Blah Blogging

Couldn’t decide whether to spend this weekend taking a road trip to the DC area for residential photography purposes or seeing what someone in Ruckersville/Barboursville was officially up to. So I’m doing laundry instead.

____________ ♥ ____________

A reader sent this via email:

TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 241

If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same;

...

They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.

Great. Presumably that’s another law that policemen are legally permitted to violate.

A different reader gave me this:

How perfect is that?!

____________ ♥ ____________

Because of a recent “clerical error” -- yeah, right -- on the part of Albemarle County, and an uninvolved-in-the-situation City of Charlottesville Commonwealth Attorney inappropriately vomiting “there’s a lot of people who’d like to keep her off the road” to the County judge, I’ve been going through my audio files trying to find where JADE Task Force Officer Brian O’Donnell threatened that they, Law Enforcement, would maliciously cause me to lose my license. I’m not going to post that particular comment yet, but I will this one -- which kinda contradicts one of his dirtball CYA tactics that I alter sound bites.

____________ ♥ ____________

I still haven’t written up a report on what happened when I went to traffic court on July 14^th against Virginia State Trooper Long. For one, around that same time my attention was more on ACPD Officer Eric Kudro’s reckless driving courtishness. Secondly, a shockingly positive unexpected encounter with another Trooper has mostly counteracted the abuses of Trp. Long and Sgt. Bailey. Proof that one good experience can make a bigger impact and mean so much more than all the bad ones combined. Almost.

Today’s Entry Brought To You By The Letters ATF

Four cars with guys from the ATF in Washington showed up at my place this morning to “talk” to me. That’s right, four. With ATF Agents. From Washington. For little ol’ me.

(Two of the four, belonging to Agents Michael Moore and Dave Stone.)

I almost never answer the door to people I don’t know, so when I heard the knock this morning and, through the peephole, saw a couple of men in ties on the other side, I thought Meh. Jehovah’s Witnesses, and went back to what I was doing pre-interruption.

When the rapping came again, louder and far more insistent, I just knew something bad was up. A peek out the blinds of the window and my earlier thought turned to Oh my God -- FEDS! I mean, suits and shiny shoes? At my little hole in the Ghetto? Come on. Who else could it be?

I watched as two of their vehicles barricaded the parking area and a man standing outside the pair of automobiles fished out his cell phone. Aha! I know this trick. I ran for my own cell phone and toggled the option to “vibrate only” -- right as “Restricted” rang through.

Multiple Agents in attendance, their pounding on my door, their calling my number, their circling outside like vultures... the sad thing is, I know they’re just trying to intimidate me yet it still works on me. I was frightened. Plus, while they were busy terrorizing me they’d also simultaneously targeted for the same treatment members of my family who live nearby. Do you know how hard it is to think and function under such conditions?

I put Mr. Restricted on ignore and dialed my lawyer. Who was in court. After playing a bit of phone tag -- to the ongoing tattoo of knuckles striking the door -- I was advised to not get in a stand-off. A stand-off! Moi in a stand-off? Stand-offs equal dead. I can’t blog if I’m dead.

Ultimately I let the men in.

The sole reason they graced me with their presence is because of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Special Agent John Stoltz. You know, the not-really-a-JADE-Task-Force-Officer JADE Task Force Officer. The one I picked on minimally for site filler weeks ago. The one I insinuated I wouldn’t bother again if he didn’t make ado out of a nothing thing. Mhmm. Him.

What part of “I’ll leave you alone if you leave me alone” is confusing to these fellows? What part of “I don’t respond well to bullying” isn’t sinking in their collective head? You would think at least one affiliate with Law Enforcement -- just one! -- could figure out what does and what does not work with me and, I don’t know, go with it.

It’d be understandable maybe if I’ve been tweaking them lately, but, for the love of logic, my last post is, in part, an apology for my not blogging!

Anyway, I’ve done nothing illegal. (I feel like I should make that my mantra or something.) Apparently I haven’t even done enough to incur a search warrant. Or an interrogation. Or even an official announcement. But they sent four cars. With ATF Agents. From Washington. For little ol’ me.

(Their business card. Yes, really.)

Trio Of Time-Takers

Subtitle: Explanation For Infrequency Of Entries

The State:

I run my fingertips around the firearm tucked by his shirt. He and I are in my vehicle tucked beside an unoccupied residence. The thickness of rainfall further secrets our encounter. I am beyond rhapsodic he contacted me -- on this exact day, and, in the first place, months ago. I. Adore. Him. A kindred spirit he is, connecting with me like no other. His smile indicates he’s not opposed to my ever-increasing fixation with him. To the beat of descending water we speak about everything. And nothing. His eyes coruscate with amusement. I play with his hand while he talks. He is smart. So smart. He’s entirely no good for information on the JADE Task Force; they should be grateful. But he does offer a deeper glimpse into the world of Law Enforcement -- insight on badged boys and their toys. I think I’ll keep him.

The County:

The street light illuminates his sinewy shape well. It’s an odd place, odd time, for us to meet but it’s all we can swing. I haven’t seen him in, it seems, ages. Two weeks is ages, correct? He gives me the lowdown on “the hen house.” Yes, that’s really what he calls his department. Funny, another ACPD guy used that same term as a description just a month ago. Are they friends? Being the tease he is, my attractive companion serves me Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement gossip last. Sometimes I have to weed out his vitriol to find the facts. I poke him in the ribs and tell him his malevolence is showing. He cracks a cop joke which makes me laugh which makes him laugh. Verbal dancing is his forte. He wraps his arms around me tight before parting. He’s right, I really ought to be more available for him.

The City:

He stands in front of me his breath raspy, his body taut with fury. What have I done? I’ve depended on him, trusted him with nearly everything. The JADE items he’s been holding for safe-keeping for me he’s now holding for ransom from me. He feels used, neglected. I vehemently shake my head back and forth at every accusation he makes. He knows I won’t lie to him. Much more crucially, he knows I will never betray him. My eyes still wet, the side of my face still stinging, I cautiously approach him and untangle the remnants of a few long black hairs of mine that linger intertwined in his clenched fist. I have to calm him down. I have to fix this. Even as bruises are forming on me I tell him he’s still my favorite. I need him.

Yeah, I Got Nothin’

Y’all can check out this site in the meantime.

No Post Title

This morning was Albemarle County Officer Eric Kudro’s make-up day in Waynesboro General District Court. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to miss witnessing it for nothin’. I believed he was going to get away with his hit-and-not-run charge -- which he did -- but how it played out exceeded even my expectations.

I pulled into a favorable parking place near the courthouse slightly before 9AM. When I crossed the threshold of the justice building, I immediately saw a third-rate printout taped on a four-foot-high signpost stationed between myself and the metal detector. After reading its message, I promptly spun about and headed back to my vehicle.

Being somewhat familiar with courthouse policies, I typically carry a mere two items with me when visiting such an establishment: the solitary piece of formed metal that opens and starts my car, and my cell phone. Unlike the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County courts, according to the public display I’d a moment ago seen, Waynesboro’s bans cellulars, period. Won’t be long, I think, before even my single key is going to be forbidden.

I tossed the contraband in my auto console and engaged the lock again.

Upon reentering the edifice, I deposited and recovered my one allowed object into and from the guard’s obligatory Gladware, stepped through the security device without incident, and took the door “on the left” that’d been pointed out to me. Traffic court was already in session.

The boyish-looking policeman I’d come to watch was easy to spot. Aside from lawyers and other cops inside the partitioned-off bench area, Mr. Kudro was the only person in the room dressed in a full suit. I’d figured he’d either wear that or his ACPD uniform. No way would he dared show up in normal attire.

He was sitting in the right front pew, on the far left side. I chose a seat three rows behind him, on the far right side. I spent the next forty minutes or so listening to victims and officers tell their tales to the judge while I observed Mr. Kudro’s stop-and-go habit of chomping much too enthusiastically on the gob of gum in his mouth.

There was the guy who was “only stopping fer a cuppa coffee, your honor,” the one who quetched about being racially profiled and denied resembling a drug dealer, the fellow who inebriatedly bailed on his alcohol-aroma-ish sedan leaving $28 dollars worth of damage behind, the woman in pajama bottoms and one sock, this speeder, that speeder… finally the nine o’clockers were over.

There was a nod to Eric Kudro by, I presume, an attorney and the judge called his name. I simultaneously scampered up to the same bench the baby-face-with-a-badge had just abandoned to better hear what would transpire.

I kid you not, whatever happened took less than thirteen seconds. Not even thirty -- thirteen! I blinked once and it was over. No account of the violation. No explanations. There was no pretense of legal procedure. They barely went through the motions. It took me longer to pick my jaw up off the floor.

At the courthouse after the… oh my gosh, I don’t even know what to call it -- other than a ridiculous farce, I spoke to someone in the know and learned the case had been dismissed because Officer Kudro “took care” of the other driver involved. Short of contacting that party, I guess I’ll never know what went on.

Maybe some things are better left to wonder about. Plus there’s always next time. Yessir, there will be a next time. We are talking about Eric Kudro you know.

Silhouette

Operation Summer Sports

Inside Joke

Serendipity

Anyone who thought no good could come from this venture was oh so very wrong.

Traffic Thursday

If Ya Didn’t Already Know It Was A JADE Op, Ya Would Never Know It Was JADE Op

Guilty plea for dealer of cocaine
June 2010

A 25-year-old man arrested earlier this year as part of a drug bust in Albemarle County has pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Abidan Pimentel entered the plea during a hearing Tuesday in Albemarle Circuit Court, according to court records. Pimentel was arrested Feb. 4 on Timberwood Boulevard during a special operation, during which officers seized about 124 grams of cocaine and more than $2,700.

Pimentel and his co-defendant, Fidel Martinez-Cortez, are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 15. Martinez-Cortez, 36, was convicted of the charge last week, court records show.

(Source)

Jeez, You Don’t Have To Make A Federal Case Out Of It!

I’ve gotten a few inquiries about my fresh string of John Stoltz posts. I know it’s completely cheezball to quote oneself but sometimes I kinda do feel like pressed curd surrounded by nuts, so this is one of my responses from last week to a reader to semi-explain the esoteric entries:

John Stoltz is the local ATF agent who works with the JADE Task Force -- whenever JADE is investigating dealers and there are guns and such involved. I found out Mr. Stoltz has files under my name on his computer so I thought it'd be funny to let him know that I know that -- much like I'd carry milk and cookies out to an undercover officer if I caught one watching me.

Apparently one girl’s humor is another guy’s affliction?

Through a couple of inerrant sources I’ve confirmed the ATFer is now resorting to filthy tactics in response to the modicum of attention I’ve recently shown him. I should’ve realized it’d be the route he’d take, him being a Detective Brian O’Donnell knockoff and all.

Since Mr. Stoltz is not a member of the Task Force, I am free to contact him -- both directly and indirectly. This would be the direct approach:

Dear Special Agent Stoltz,

You must be aware you won’t be able to have me locked up forever nor is Google going to cyber-assassinate I HeArTE JADE merely at your whim and behest. Please settle down and reconsider your strategy. Seriously, I really don’t want to have to pick on you for the rest of eternity. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m not interested in concentrating on you for even like a whole month. I mean, I’m already spread thin keeping up with JADE, tabbing the Virginia State Police, teasing various City of Charlottesville and County of Albemarle lawmen, et cetera.

You could keep trying to handle me the very same way your buddies did, but, c’mon, anyone can see how that worked out for them. I don’t believe you’ve yet crossed the line into bullying -- not me, anyway -- thus I’m not opposed to backing off if you’re not opposed to being reasonable. I’ll give you some time to think it over. You decide to truce, have your people call my people. ‘Til then, expect my minute occasional, one hundred per cent. legal, tweaking of you to continue.

So Much, So Little

Y’all thought the Feds arrested me, huh? Not yet. But they’re working on it. More on that later. Maybe.