beardodrome.com
Set Ups

Judge John G. Baker of the Indiana Court of Appeals stated in a recent decision that, research "revealed no case in any American jurisdiction" like the one decided recently by a three-judge panel of the court." Almost two years after the fact, the court chastised their State Police for knowingly endangering the citizens of French Lick by encouraging an informant high on booze and cocaine to speed through town.

Why would the police act so irresponsibly, you ask? In a clear example of how the war on some drugs and users is more dangerous than the use of said drugs, they did it so they could make a traffic stop to bust his passenger for possession of cocaine. The article does not state the weight of the seized drug, but if it fit in his pocket, it's unlikely to have been a large amount. The court in any event, rightly suppressed the evidence obtained in this outrageous fashion, effectively dismantling the case.

In other news, Baruch Jairo Vega, a South fashion photographer in Florida, found the government has no loyalty to its "informants", when he received a four-month prison sentence on a misdemeanor tax charge.

Vega, who had set up at least 114 Colombian drug traffickers, was a key player in the DEA's high-profile Operation Millennium that resulted in the conviction of former Medellín Cartel leader Fabio Ochoa. He gained their cooperation with deceit and with the full knowledge and blessing of the DEA, tricked many of these traffickers into paying millions of dollars in "fees' to assure lenient treatment -- which he then pocketed.

He probably thought he had a good deal going at the time but there appears to no honor among thesethievess. Vega claims the government has taken his Miami Beach penthouse, most of his photography equipment, and $1.5 million in his bank accounts.

''They left me with nothing -- after all I did for them,'' he said.