Arrest: 10 months in federal prison
Ver is prosecuted for selling a product on Ebay called “Pest Control Report 2000”, a firecracker used by farmers to scare deer and birds off their fields. Ver says he was the only merchant prosecuted, and that even the manufacturer was simply asked to stop selling the item.
The reasoning for the prosecution became crystal clear after a meeting with the US prosecuting attorney and the under cover ATF agents from the debate. In the meeting, my attorney told the prosecutor that selling store bought firecrackers on Ebay isn’t a big deal and that we can pay a fine and do some community service to be done with everything. When the prosecutor agreed that that sounded reasonable one of the ATF agents pounded his hand on the table and shouted “…but you didn’t hear the things that he said!” This summed up very clearly that they were angry about the things that I had said, not the things that I had done.
To avoid a seven or eight year sentence Ver signs a plea agreement and is sent to Lompoc Federal Penitentiary for ten months, followed by three years probation.