- 16 May 2023 04:30
#15274260
A man has been arrested on federal charges and faces the potential of life in prison, when the only evidence is videos and photos that he is believed to have posted on Snapchat. In the videos, he appeared to offer to sell drugs.
This is yet another example of individuals being charged with crimes based only on internet data.
In July 2020, pictures were shared of him brandishing a handgun. In one of the pictures, he appeared to have 24 oxycodone pills. He also posted a video of him with the same firearm and two Taurus handguns. Another video showed two five-gallon buckets filled with pre-packaged marijuana products from a dispensary, which Howard said he was selling.
Law enforcement also found videos of Howard displaying different firearms.
Prosecutors said Howard posted additional videos offering to sell marijuana, crack cocaine, and other controlled substances.
You should be reminded that with modern technology, it could be easy for someone to create a digitally altered video that appears to show a person and their voice who was not actually filmed.
Law enforcement went to the man's house with a search warrant and found guns that closely matched the unique guns shown in the videos. They also found $16,201 in cash in his home and $950 in cash in his vehicle. Not really evidence of any crime, but suggestive that he may have been involved in illegal sales.
This man sounds incredibly stupid, and it probably was actually him in those videos, but this type of thing sets a terrible precedent.
The man has pleaded guilty to one count of "possession of firearms in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime", probably pushed into it by the prosecutor and threats of numerous additional charges.
The prosecutor charged him with a range of different crimes, and, if convicted on the least serious charge, he would have faced a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison (without parole), or he could have faced up to life in prison (without parole). So it's fair to say he was coerced and threatened into pleading guilty.
The problem that I have with this is that the only real evidence of a crime were videos that someone posted on the internet.
The man's name is Chauncey Howard and he lived in Missouri.
Snapchat posts will land Missouri man in federal prison (fox4kc.com)
https://fox4kc.com/news/missouri-news/s ... al-prison/
You can see this video where Jordan Peele uses computer software to make it convincingly appear that he was President Obama talking in a video.
You Won't Believe What Obama Says In This Video! - YouTube
They did not find drugs in his home. It sounds like from the story they did not actually find anything illegal in their physical search.
The only drugs that were actually found were a pack of THC (marijuana) gummies, but that is kind of irrelevant to this story and is only punishable in Missouri by a small fine.
It does seem a little bit silly to be charging him with "possession of firearms in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime" if it was only a moderate amount of marijuana that they actually physically found, even though he was shown in a video with more. The marijuana that was seen in the video was pre-packed and had come from some legal dispensary, even if it wasn't legal in the state.
This is yet another example of individuals being charged with crimes based only on internet data.
In July 2020, pictures were shared of him brandishing a handgun. In one of the pictures, he appeared to have 24 oxycodone pills. He also posted a video of him with the same firearm and two Taurus handguns. Another video showed two five-gallon buckets filled with pre-packaged marijuana products from a dispensary, which Howard said he was selling.
Law enforcement also found videos of Howard displaying different firearms.
Prosecutors said Howard posted additional videos offering to sell marijuana, crack cocaine, and other controlled substances.
You should be reminded that with modern technology, it could be easy for someone to create a digitally altered video that appears to show a person and their voice who was not actually filmed.
Law enforcement went to the man's house with a search warrant and found guns that closely matched the unique guns shown in the videos. They also found $16,201 in cash in his home and $950 in cash in his vehicle. Not really evidence of any crime, but suggestive that he may have been involved in illegal sales.
This man sounds incredibly stupid, and it probably was actually him in those videos, but this type of thing sets a terrible precedent.
The man has pleaded guilty to one count of "possession of firearms in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime", probably pushed into it by the prosecutor and threats of numerous additional charges.
The prosecutor charged him with a range of different crimes, and, if convicted on the least serious charge, he would have faced a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison (without parole), or he could have faced up to life in prison (without parole). So it's fair to say he was coerced and threatened into pleading guilty.
The problem that I have with this is that the only real evidence of a crime were videos that someone posted on the internet.
The man's name is Chauncey Howard and he lived in Missouri.
Snapchat posts will land Missouri man in federal prison (fox4kc.com)
https://fox4kc.com/news/missouri-news/s ... al-prison/
You can see this video where Jordan Peele uses computer software to make it convincingly appear that he was President Obama talking in a video.
You Won't Believe What Obama Says In This Video! - YouTube
They did not find drugs in his home. It sounds like from the story they did not actually find anything illegal in their physical search.
The only drugs that were actually found were a pack of THC (marijuana) gummies, but that is kind of irrelevant to this story and is only punishable in Missouri by a small fine.
It does seem a little bit silly to be charging him with "possession of firearms in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime" if it was only a moderate amount of marijuana that they actually physically found, even though he was shown in a video with more. The marijuana that was seen in the video was pre-packed and had come from some legal dispensary, even if it wasn't legal in the state.
Last edited by Puffer Fish on 16 May 2023 04:35, edited 1 time in total.