The worst part is that going by Astro’s article, the guys in question haven’t been released. Too much loss of face involved presumably
Some folks sell oil, some cell phones.
Drag him out and shoot him, no jury in the world would convict us.
NIPPLES?!?!
Sorry.
Who you gonna shoot, me, the Arab guy or the President? 
Yes.
Ah.
I really wish people would stop profiling us sheeple.
The terrorism charges have officially been dropped. Now they’re being held for “conspiracy to defraud consumers with counterfeit goods and intent to promote the carrying on of a specific unlawful activity”.
Perhaps needless to say, I have yet to see this mentioned in any nationwide press.
Samclem, you may fire at will 
So…I guess it WAS illegal after all. Interesting set of charges there…
-XT
Sounds like a crock to me. Face saving charges. The important thing is that the authorities can say the men remain the subject of charges. By the time these charges are dropped (and my guess is they will be) the whole topic won’t be in the public eye.
Another croc. How do you charge these guys with selling counterfeit goods when they still have the merchandise in the van, they haven’t sold anything to anyone. and what they are doing is at best open to legal debate. Charges will be dropped. Now the Feds are trying to save face.
The Michigan prosecutor, Renee, should be demoted.
Must be a slow month out there for Law enforcement in Michigan.
With gas prices what they are, weren’t these guys just losing their profits by driving all over the place buying phones? And I don’t quite understand how this still works, since I only use a prepaid cell phone and don’t pay much attention to cell phone plans. If they are buying the prepay phones so that illegals who don’t have credit can use them (presumably by buying the prepaid phone cards themselves), don’t these eople know they can just go to Wal_MArt themselves and buy the phone cheaper?
And if the phones are being modified to be used on regular cell phone plans…how are these immigrants getting the credit to pay for the cell phone plan if they don’t have the credit in the first place?
I’m so confused…
AP story on the new charges here
The key, apparently is that the phones are sold as pre-paid TracFones at discount rates (the buying of extra minutes subsidises the low sale price) but they apparently can be modifed relatively easily to work as conventional subscription phones. The user, therefore, can simply buy a monthly subscription without having to pay extra for a fancy phone. At least that’s how I think it works. It’s a little complex for my steam-age mind.
IANAL, to say the least, but the charges these guys have been brought up on sound like something somebody just thought up on the spur of the moment. The phones are supposedly ‘counterfeit’, even though they clearly are Nokia phones and are not being presented as anything else. Now, if the guys are claiming factory warranties exist for these things when sold in a modified condition, that might be something else again.
The guys are accused of ‘money laundering’, apparently because they’ve used to proceeds from selling phones to…buy some more phones. Lastly, they’re charged with conspiracy because, well, I guess you almost always end getting a conspiracy rap tacked on if you are charged with something else and there happens to be more than one of you.
What seems completely unclear from everything I’ve read so far is whether unlocking pre-paid phones for resale as subscription phones really is illegal. Guess this will make a good test case, then. Too bad for those poor schlubs.
Oh, BTW, the linked article includes a photo of the Mackinac Bridge. I suggest no one don’t look at it, unless you like being hauled in for questioning.
Er, scratch that “don’t” from the last sentence. I’m not really Gomer Pyle.
Your high school English teacher is on a ledge, drunk, threatening suicide…
I don’t think Homeland Security deserves all the credit for this. Have you been to this part of Michigan? There are an awful lot of Barney Fifes running around in uniform up here. And not very much crime to keep them busy.
Gotta love the idea of a terrorist strike… on the Mackinac Bridge. Because America will collapse if people can’t get to the U.P. from Michigan. No one will drive through Wisconsin! It’s the perfect plan! Or something.
Dear God. How did I miss that this happened in the thumb? For some reason, I thought it was up here instead… I should not post before coffee.