WHERE IS MY VOICE?
[PORTIONS OF THIS HAVE BEEN EDITED]My name is Mitchell [LAST NAME REDACTED], an American Citizen since birth…Where is my voice? I am a combat decorated veteran of the United States Army’s 82nd Airborne Division…Where is my voice? I am a man who fought for my country and its freedom in Desert Shield/Desert Storm…Where is my voice? I have written and sent numerous letters to many elected officials, U.S. senators and congressmen, from my home state of Tennessee, and from Mississippi, the state that I was illegally entrapped and arrested in, from which all, I have received no response…Where is my voice? I have written letters to both my hometown newspaper, in Union City, Tennessee, as well as the newspaper in Southaven, Mississippi; to no avail…Where is my voice? I have reached out to news media personalities in Memphis as well as the national level, yet again I am met with silence…Where is my voice? I have been separated from my two sons and the rest of my family for 14 months. [EDITED] Where is my voice?
I was illegally arrested and falsely imprisoned by an overzealous police detective, who not only violated the principles of law, the law of the land, I.C.A.C. Operational and Investigative Standards, but also the United States Supreme Court and Appellant Courts rulings on “outrageous conduct” as well as “entrapment” I was also denied due process by the misrepresentation of an inept and incompetent attorney. [EDITED]…Where is my voice?
It is more than just me. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of men who have been illegally lured into these kinds of traps over the last several years. Unwary innocent men who have been the product of overzealous police performing impermissible acts, not to protect society or even a potential victim, but to simply arrest and prosecute, in order to drive up numbers, to justify the use of and receive more federal money through the I.C.A.C program, a federal program that has paid out more than $250,000,000 over the last 10 years to participating states. [EDITED] It is mostly about the money, but it also works out good for the states attorney generals and prosecutors who want to mislead the public as to how tough they are on crimes against children. I say mislead, because cases involving these Craigslist Casual Encounter sting operations almost always had no actual victim. What they don’t tell is that most of the prosecuted crimes against children are [EDITED]crimes that are completely manufactured and totally under police control. [EDITED] Many entrapment cases and outrageous conduct cases have made it to the United States Supreme Court as well as the 11 United States [Circuit] Appellant Courts. It is settled law, what law enforcement is allowed to do during a sting and what they are not allowed to do…Where is my voice?
“Our view, shared by Justice [Louis] Brandeis, that crime manufactured by the government from whole cloth would constitute outrageous conduct also has a firm jurisprudential basis. Criminal sanction is not justified when the state manufactures crime that would under such circumstances, is not needed to deter misconduct: absent the government’s involvement, no crime would have been committed. Similarly, a defendant need not to be incarcerated to protect society if he or she is unlikely to commit a crime without governmental interference. Nor does the state need to rehabilitate persons who, absent government misconduct, would not engage in crime. Where police control and manufacture a victimless crime, it is difficult to see how anyone is actually harmed, and thus punishment ceases to be a response, but becomes an end in itself – to secure the conviction of a private criminal. Under such circumstances, the criminal justice system infringes upon personal liberty and violates due process.” Taken from United States vs. Bogart (1986)…Where is my voice?
“In Newman vs. United States, the applicable principle was stated by Circuit Judge Woods. ‘It is well settled that decoys may be used to entrap criminals, and to present opportunity to one intending and willing to commit a crime, but decoys are not permissible to ensnare the innocent and law abiding citizen into the commission of a crime. When the criminal design originates, not with the accused, but is conceived in the mind of the government officer and the accused is by persuasion, deceitful representation, or inducement lured into the commission of a criminal act, the government is estopped by sound public policy from prosecution there of’.” Taken from “Sorrells vs. United States, 287 U.S. 435 (1932)…Where is my voice?
“Congress could not have intended that its statutes were to be enforced by tempting innocent persons into violations”. Taken from Sherman vs. United States (1958)…Where is my voice?
From the footnotes of Jacobson vs. United States, 503. U.S. 540 (1992).
- If the defendant before contact with law enforcement officers or their agents did not have any intent or disposition to commit the crime charged and was induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit that crime, then he was entrapped.
It is better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer ~ Sir William Blackstone…Where is my voice?
In 2014, Judge Stephen Reinhart of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote: In this era of mass incarceration, in which we already lock up more of our population than any other nation on earth, it is especially curious that the government feels compelled to invent fake crimes and imprison people for long periods of time for agreeing to participate in them – people who, but for the government’s schemes, might not have entered the world of major felonies…Where is my voice?
Yes, I should have stopped messaging. Yes, I should have stuck with “you are way too young; we don’t need to be talking”. Yes, I should have never gotten into my truck and driven to Mississippi, and yes, I should have turned around. The complaint that I was arrested for was dated February 25, 2016, four days before I drove to Mississippi. The arrest warrant was issued on February 26, 2016, three days before I was arrested. I drove to Mississippi and was arrested on February 29, 2016. I suppose the constant urging for me to drive to Mississippi on the 29th was simply to make serving the arrest warrant easier. Yes, I should have done many things differently from February 24, 2016, when I first responded to the ad, and February 29, 2016, when I was arrested. I am very ashamed that I failed this random act of virtue test which was disguised as a sting, however, I was not then, nor have I ever been seeking minors for sex. I was not a suspect in any ongoing investigations, nor was there any probable cause to suspect me of breaking any law. The case record supports this. I responded to an ad that was placed on Craigslist Casual Encounter (W4M), from an adult woman that was searching for an adult man. This ad was placed by an undercover police detective from the Southaven police department in Mississippi.
Some would suggest that I can’t be sorry, remorseful, or even accept responsibility for my bad choices or bad responses to the detective’s inducements and enticements, and hold the police accountable for their impermissible acts at the same time. I think that is absurd to suggest that I should accept this injustice done to me in the name of accepting responsibility for my reactions to [EDITED] unconstitutional random virtue testing. To say the only way that I can show remorse or humiliation for my behavior is to ignore the injustice done to me and my family is ludicrous.
I do know and accept, that I responded wrong to [EDITED] inducements and enticements, and I am ashamed of my actions and that I let my children, my entire family, my friends and myself down. I never thought that I would have or even could have done such a thing. However, accepting responsibility for my actions does not relieve the Southaven police department of taking responsibility for theirs. I do accept responsibility for my choices, but I am also determined that detective [EDITED], the Southaven Police Department and the prosecuting attorney are held accountable for this unconstitutional injustice and judicial fraud. To suggest that they took a criminal off the street and that they are protecting society from someone who has absolutely no criminal history, by ensnaring a man legally seeking a woman, not a minor, on an adult site, is a fraud. “The police lured the defendant into an electronic conversation with “Jess” without providing any indication at the outset that the fictitious female was underage. Indeed, the police conducted their sting on Craigslist forum that is supposed to be limited to users 18 and over.” (People v. Aguirre in 2012) In fact, the police portrayed himself as an adult female.
The U.S. Constitution guarantees a law-abiding person the right to be left alone, if they indeed are not breaking the law. I was not breaking the law, or intending to break the law, at the time that I came in contact with detective [EDITED], when he lured me off Craigslist onto KIK, while still posing to be an adult female, or when he made me an investigative target for his sting without probable cause. What he did was unconstitutional and violates due process. My accepting responsibility for my behavior does not change these facts.
I will be separated from my family for 3 years; not 50 to 60 days. I have lost friends and family due to a crime conceived in the mind of Detective [EDITED], and was by persuasion, deceitful representation, or inducement, lured into the commission of a criminal act that I otherwise would not have attempted.[EDITED] This time it happened to me. If we don’t stop this now, and allow it to keep happening, the next time it may be your husband, brother, father, son, nephew or grandson that gets lured into one of these traps by an overzealous police officer. Please, stand with me now, so hopefully, you won’t have to stand with one of your loved ones later for the same thing…
Where is my voice?
LET’S CREATE A VOICE!!!
Thank you and God bless you,
Mitchell
In 2011 I was charged 3 offense of the same crime which I believe double jeopardy kicks in. I responded to a 34 year old woman’s ad on Craig’s list looking for a chill man. She had a 14year old daughter, as a father of 2 small children and an older son I didnt mind,I was 28 at the time. I was talking to the woman and she wanted me to eve actually teach her daughter, I didnt understand what she was referring to until she applied pressure on the subject and was being sweet and kind with me. I never physically said I would sleep with her daughter. I arrived and got arrested. They never read me my rights,it was printed on paper. I thought it was prostitution for the woman because that’s what craigslist was known for as worst case scenario. The officers went over the emails and supplied emails I never seen, I told them and they said it dont matter to just sign them. As a person who never been in trouble I trusted the system. I met my public defender who told me I will never see my children again and goto prison for a long time and the investigator for them said same thing plus he said I will be someone’s bitch in prison because I was crying asking about my children. The public defender said he dont like my case and cases like mine and refused to help me or my family clear my name. I asked for a psychologist to talk to thru them to prove I have never been a threat to minors, but they refused to use it. He denied me a bail reduction and so many things to make sure I was convicted.to this day I still deny the charges, but because of them I cant have a real job without being discriminated against,cant get a place to live and be involved in my son’s life and activities. During the final court date for the plea deal. I plead no contest ,I tried asking questions but my pd told me to shut up and just answer the court with what he told me to say. Is there any hope for me to have my life back and be the dad I always dreamed to be.in previous replies to Craig’s list as that night non of the women I messaged was under 25,I prefer older woman because they are more inclined to offer the family life which I desire.i agree I shouldnt have talked to another woman outside of my engagement, I became the thing I despise. But after 4 years of constantly being cheated on and degraded every day by the woman I was in love with for almost 20 years,I seen a woman that was being nice and calling me handsome and cute and nice compared to be called fat and a beached whale while SHE FLIRTED with minors on online games and I advised her that was illegal, I have never or ever desired a minor or even to this date women young than 25 because the generation gap and other reasons. I’m at a loss, and I’m not going to lie its extremely hard to wake up everyday, I want the pain to end,I’m being denied the right to be a father to my son because my ex puts him in activities that wont allow my felony to join him. As a person who never looked for sex with minors and is repulsed by the idea of it how can we have a life. Sorry if I ramble,my mind scatters and rambles at times.thanks
I am Florida Scandal and know that what you wrote about is truth! This conspiracy and scam has gone on for far too long and we would like to add you to something currently in the works. There is no sense in hiding anymore as we have already proven your and our claims: what the DOJ has been doing for money over a decade is illegal. Law enforcement are getting paid by DOJ to entrap men. We have evidence of this and need you to join us!
Florida scandal, your site dates back to 2015, do you have an email or more current blog? I have family involved and currently fighting this at the moment.
Many cases are entrapment(subjective) as predisposition is not present. The failure of courts to realize this is a shame considering how much cops and icac bend multiple rules. The consequences of this goes beyond serving time, sex registry is the modern day Scarlet Letter, that should be applied to rapist and true pedos not people persuaded or encourage to commit a crime where police facilitated and pushed for the opportunity where no child exists. If you want a slap on the risk, at worst these sting related cases should not carry the sex registry unless you have priors, child porn, or have been convicted of any sexual offense in the past with adults or children.We all know the registry is punitive .
How is it America is the only nation that does these stings and catch 20 plus in 3 day operations while Canada catches 13 pedos in a EIGHT month operation… The numbers do not add up and the UK do not conduct these supposed proactive stings. Wake up people.. Please we need voices to be heard.
This is happening a lot, especially in Florida, they seem to do one or two every month down there. A family member of mines was caught, similar story, his life has been chaos in his pre-trial procedure. We all know he made a mistake… a mistake of not actually thinking this may really be a young women. He is no criminal. It’s hard to see Judges fail realize this is objectitve and or subjective Entrapment.
These situations Do Not Happen in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Europe, Central America and South America for that Matter.
Hello Joseph, my family member was recently caught in a Fl sting, I’ve read other comments you have posted and would like too see if we can email or contact you?
Telephone: (850)339-5805
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
My question is why are there no laws protecting people from those who lie about their age?
Like if you can prove beyond a doubt they portrayed themselves as an adult but turned out to be younger i.e. their fake ID, all social accounts that portray older, and the fact that her boyfriend who she cheated on was several years older than my self at the time, etc.
When I was convicted in 2007 I was told that none of this evidence was admissible in court as it would damage the victims credibility. This was in MI.
Why was evidence that would destroy her credibility more than her own statements did not admissible?
This is a powerful story, but there is no need to dismiss the struggles of immigrants in order to have these issues taken seriously. People who are criminalized share many common factors in confronting the abuse that comes with that criminalization, regardless if it is for alleged crimes related to sex, drugs, migration, mental health… A movement that sees these commonalities will grow stronger, and stand a better chance at challenging the criminal justice system.
Sex Offender has no voice
We have video proof of the police making up a story to use to indict my son and to hope to get a conviction. We have yet to find an attorney in Midland, TX who will use this video evidence to show how corrupt and malicious the police here are and what they did to make sure the crime they created would be more than likely to be indicted and convicted by adding to it a story about how my son has been innappropriate with a minor prior to this trap they set up on Craigslist and made him fall for. We are not allowed to use in court things that prove his innocence, like the proof that shows why he would have fallen for this (an actual true story), his medical records that show he is naive and vulnerable and even in the mild range of Autism, the fact that police lied to the media and said these men were targeting minors, and most importantly, the video eveidence of what a very evil officer did to force my son to make up stories and even changed the made up story to make it what they needed it to be to make sure they could get what they wanted (an indictment and a conviction). The lawyer refuses to use my son’s roommates as character witnesses because “this would work against the case because they are gay and people in Midland don’t like gay people.” The fact that my son’s roommates are gay would actullay work in his favor. They also don’t want to talk to them because it would be revealed in court that my son never brings anyone home, much less bringing over girls. He doesn’t hit on girls in person. He lacks in social skills. That is why he was on Craigslist, looking for women who put themselves out there. All information like this about him that would show his innocence is being kept hidden because none of it is allowed in court for his trial. We have straight out been told that it does not matter that he is not a predator. Innocent people go to jail all the time, and that’s just the way it is. There’s nothing anybody can do about it. Those are the exact words we’ve been told.
So, we’re just supposed to shut up and take it because “that’s just the way it is.”
On top of everything we had a private investigator that was supposedly helping with our case. I now have proof that she tried to rip us off by trying to get us to pay $5,000 more ($9,000 total) for an expert witness than what that expert witness charges other people in this same county for the same type of case for the same services. There is a lot of greed in this this town because it’s an oil and gas town. We have a lot of people trying to take advantage of others. That’s very common here. I didn’t dare confront her or the lawyer about it because she would have just yelled at me for it like she did every time I confronted her with facts she didn’t like hearing.
We need the honest people with the right intentions in this justice system to start speaking up and exposing this corruption we have going on in our system, and put a stop to it.
Mitchell-
Your name, my name and all those millions out there are LEGION. My story is almost identical to the one you tell, only the guilty part is the US Post office breaking twenty laws under title 18 in order to entrap me. I too always thought it illegal for the U.S. to suborn its own citizens to commit crimes, especially elements of the government who are Congressionally mandated NOT to do this.
Mitchell – powerful story. It has happened to me, my son has been taken under the same illegal police racketeering tactics in the state of WA. We are still fighting.
I would like to post your story on my LadyJusticeMyth.blog where others connected to me may read it. Do I have your permission?
I just purchased a billboard space that will read “Does Washington State prey on innocent people? Are you and your family safe?” in an additional effort to get the word out.
Keep shouting the truth!
Kathleen
With respect for the author’s views and sympathy for his situation, the first few pages are a discussion of immigration and media bias— areas in which FAC members involved in such stings have differed. But FAC’s position on these was not clear to me by its posting of this member submission, even if it was labeled “member submission.”
The rest of the submission— the meat of it— was quite impassioned. But I find personally when I wrote something that impassioned, I need a good editor to help make it more readable and easier to follow for outside readers. In the event that I make a member submission, FAC please help me with that.
Finally, Mitchell, two important thing to remember at this time. You CAN keep your family together. And, if it’s any consolation, if not a solution, you WILL get through this.
(Post-edit) One thing that makes FAC great is that, when FAC believes something violates the constitution, FAC acts. Witness, for example, last week’s terrific ex post facto lawsuit. That filing did not apply the same legal reasoning that you assert here, and it is my hope that in posting your submission, FAC is not endorsing its reasoning, but FAC will need to clarify.
Mitchell, I realize that you are in shock. Many of us have been there. But you are alleging unconstitutionality in a number of areas, including prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel. If you are serious about these allegations, then you MUST file an appeal, and you appeal filing must be timely. FAC is NOT the proper forum for doing so.
The most common type of appeal that I am aware of in these situations, as a non-lawyer unqualified to dispense advice, is a 2255, often referred to as an “indirect appeal.” If you haven’t heard of it, most of your fellow inmates will have. There is a government form for it, and you are not required to cite any legal reasoning, just state the facts on the form.
At least that’s what’s typical for Federal cases. State courts may differ in how they handle this. Where is your voice, you ask? The courts!