Veteran faces 21 years in prison for possession of pistol magazines

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azmastablasta

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Well I guess New Yawkers can rest easy tonight, another dangerous criminal is off the street.

April 26, 2017
Veteran faces 21 years in prison for possession of pistol magazines
By Michael Filozof

Simeon D. Mokhiber, a Niagara Falls, N.Y. Army veteran, was convicted April 21 on three felony counts of possessing "large capacity ammunition feeding devices" under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's SAFE Act.

Mokhiber served nine years in the U.S. Army and participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He subsequently worked as an armed private security contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan and was formerly licensed as an armed security guard in New York. He is the father of an eight-year-old with disabilities and had no prior criminal record.

Mokhiber was pulled over for speeding in April 2016. Although Mokhiber had not been drinking, police performed field sobriety tests. When Mokhiber requested that officers turn on body cameras, he was arrested, and his vehicle was searched without a warrant.

Police found three 17-round Glock handgun magazines in a locked container that was opened without Mokhiber's consent. Although Mokhiber was the owner of a licensed and registered handgun, no gun was present in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop – only the magazines.

Under New York law, possessing an "ammunition feeding device" capable of holding more than 10 rounds is a felony carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

If Mokhiber is sentenced consecutively, he faces up to 21 years in state prison for possession of the magazines.

While New York is busy prosecuting combat veterans of Operation "Iraqi Freedom," Gov. Cuomo has been actively sympathizing with left-wing criminals. Last December, Cuomo commuted the sentence of Judith Clark, making the avowed communist revolutionary eligible for a parole hearing. Clark was serving a 75-to-life sentence for her role in a 1981 Brink's robbery that involved the murder of a security guard and two police officers. (Cuomo, who personally visited Clark in prison prior to commuting her sentence, was quoted as saying, "She made a mistake" and "Jesus would pardon her.")

And the governor's state budget, passed two weeks ago, appropriated $10 million of taxpayers' money to provide legal counsel to illegal aliens facing deportation.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017..._magazines.html
 
why this is even in court with the illegal search and seizure, is a amazing. I hope he gets a lawyer that has his act together.


I also find it ironic that you could have 3 illegal joints and not get 21 years but a magazine.. Well that means that we have to toss him in jail for 21 years
 
Working backwards with basics since I don't know the story. No warrant is needed for the search of the car. That's covered in search incident to arrest. If the arrest is valid any part of the car he had access to can be searched for weapons, drugs etc and anything found is admissable.

Locked or otherwise inaccessible areas are off limits, so no trunks or underhood.

If the car is being impounded a full inventory can and should be done.

Whether or not he's been drinking doesn't matter. If there is reasonable suspicion fsm can be requested, and they can be refused. Is up to the le involved to be able to express why and how he believed they were needed.

But.

If there was no pc to arrest and it only happened because he requested they turn on their gear, that, if true, sounds like contempt of cop. That's a nono.

If that's the case and there is no pc for arrest and consent wasnt given for the v search you're getting into "the fruits of the poisonous tree" territory, no lawful presence, no lawful search and all evidence resulting from it can be tossed.

The veteran angle. Totally irrelevant. Pretty much no law had a rider saying "unless you're a vet"
 
It appears as if part of this story has been censored. It goes from sobriety test to "turn on body camera " to "you are under arrest "? I'm pretty sure some pertinent details are being left out...
 
There pretty much always is in today's "media". And too many people ignore the massive gaps and go out rioting.
 
Stuff like this makes me glad I escaped the People's Republic of New Yawk. From my perspective none of this should happen. If the LEO's had any real reason to detain this citizen, they would have said so by now. This tells me they simply didn't like him or his attitude. He ticked them off somehow. Stupid, yes, but worthy of a potential 21 year prison sentence? Ludicrous. The prisons do not need any more political prisoners so what is the true purpose of this exercise? It would seem to be to strike fear in the hearts of the proletariat so they will tow the line. The only "law" they can positively say he "broke" was a "speed law". I will always contend speed laws are blatantly unconstitutional as they are selectively enforced, largely ignored and nearly impossible to adhere to. All that said, the entire story merely scratches the surface of the bigger issue.

We continue in every way to allow some to assume the role of our masters. Worse, they no longer pretend to have any restraints to the power they wield over us. It is obvious to me the election of of Trump will prove to be a weak retort to those who purport to being our betters. There will be no turning back from global rule. It only a matter of time. The only real question now is will the transition be painfully slow or mercifully quick.
 
Originally Posted By: NdIndyHe wasnt arrested for speeding.

He wasn't stopped for magazines either.

Quote:Mokhiber was pulled over for speeding in April 2016. Although Mokhiber had not been drinking, police performed field sobriety tests. When Mokhiber requested that officers turn on body cameras, he was arrested, and his vehicle was searched without a warrant.

What is your point?
 
He wasnt arrested for speeding. That isn't the law he was arrrsted for. That is exactly the point. 1 line, simple.
 
Seems like they didn't like this guy.. Based on what was provided.

Speeding, then sobriety check, not drunk, wanted body camera's turned on (which tells me the cop was being a jerk, most likely both sides and the guy wanted it recorded) Military are not afraid of police and the intimidation doesn't work.

But then search of vehicle finds magazines. (oh the horror)

now faces 21 years in jail.

Seems like abuse of government power if the reason he is going to face charges is for over sized magazines. No weapons charges.


I really wish the Government would allow for recording of things happening in public spaces or your private spaces, regardless of who you are interacting with. Everyone should be allowed to record all interactions with police or government officials.
 
Originally Posted By: NdIndyHe wasnt arrested for speeding. That isn't the law he was arrrsted for. That is exactly the point. 1 line, simple.

Nobody said he was arrested for speeding. The article DID report the entire incident stemmed from a speeding stop. It does not elaborate on whether he was alleged to be going 10, 15 or one mile over the speed limit. We do not know for a fact he was speeding at all. We do know he was stopped BECAUSE he was allegedly speeding.

While I did not elaborate on MY point, I will now: the speeding scam is the first misstep in a slippery slope. We tolerate governments speeding money machine for some unknown reason. We allow simple traffic stops to morph into felony convictions UNRELATED to the original infraction. And now we sit in front of our computers and whine about the plight of this man. We've brought ALL of this on ourselves and it is not going away.

Welcome to the police state.
 
Sooo... If an officer stops someone for speeding and discovers a dead body in the car, or six pounds of methamphetamine, according to your thinking they get a pass? BTW, both of those examples come from my personal experience. There have been other situations but it's not everyday you find a dead body rolled up in a roll of carpet in the bed of a truck. No, I didn't write the traffic violation and let them go on the felony charges. I'm not talking about the stupidity of making a pistol magazine a felony, that's truly ridiculous. Can't imagine anyone living in such a screwed up place.
 
Originally Posted By: seeknulfindOriginally Posted By: NdIndyHe wasnt arrested for speeding. That isn't the law he was arrrsted for. That is exactly the point. 1 line, simple.

Nobody said he was arrested for speeding. The article DID report the entire incident stemmed from a speeding stop. It does not elaborate on whether he was alleged to be going 10, 15 or one mile over the speed limit. We do not know for a fact he was speeding at all. We do know he was stopped BECAUSE he was allegedly speeding.

While I did not elaborate on MY point, I will now: the speeding scam is the first misstep in a slippery slope. We tolerate governments speeding money machine for some unknown reason. We allow simple traffic stops to morph into felony convictions UNRELATED to the original infraction. And now we sit in front of our computers and whine about the plight of this man. We've brought ALL of this on ourselves and it is not going away.

Welcome to the police state.

And?

Do you know what 3 things a large percentage of people in jail have in common?

1. They drive like total butts
2. They have lights that don't work. Headlight/tail/brakes etc.
3. None of them were charged with the initial violation.

Here's how it works in real life, ignoring this case entirely.

You're 1/2 way through shift and decide to pull over and do some paperwork and "run traffic". Youre one of the people that became a cop to do police work and not be a traffic cop but you're still forced to do it. Because yes quotas exist. They call them different things but it's a quota, period.

So eventually you see billybob cruising at 9 over, which is in your personal threshold to stop but not in the ticket category. So you pull him over to tell him to slow down. He gets a warning that costs him nothing, you get "productivity" for the stop and again for the warning and you *slightly* reduce the chance of a wreck. Win/win.

So you talk to BB and run his 27, 29 and locals. That's dl check, ncic and local warrants. And bam, warrant for fta (failure to appear) on an earlier speeding ticket.

Up till now, full officer discretion. You *can* stroke him for speed, but you're not going to. But no discretion allowed with a warrant, its a court order, straight to jail and do not pass go.

So Billybob is arrested. Why? For speeding today? Nope. For speeding before? Nope. Hes under arrest because of a warrant for his failing to take care of the previous ticket.

So BB is cuffed and you do a search incident to arrest in his car. As i said before that covers anywhere inside the car he had access to immediately prior to the stop. Low and behold under the drivers seat are a dozen baggies of *suspected* meth and a highpoint 45. Ncic comes back with BB being a convicted violent felon.

So now we've moved on from a minor traffic offense, to an arrest for a local warrant, and now felony charges, and probably federal as well since he's a felon in possession of a firearm.

Let's fast firward a bit, billybob isn't going anywhere.

So since you're dealing with a likely dealer the car is impounded for a later full search after a search warrant is obtained. While sitting in impound waiting for the warrant it starts to smell, REALLY bad. The warrant comes in, you pop the trunk and there is what's left of a rival dealer that has been sitting in the sun for the last 2 weeks.

So even more charges are added on and you get to spend a good sized chunk of your forseeable future doing paperwork.

All because billybob was driving 9 over.


Point being every long hike starts with lacing up your shoes.
 
And... now you're running your own scenario based on your own fantasy. Nothing you described was presented as facts in the case presented by the op, except the now convicted felon was originally stopped for allegedly speeding.

Again, the reality we all face is an increasingly oppressive police state. This is NOT intended as indictment against law enforcement per se, it is an observation concerning the rot in our entire nation from the local zoning board to the highest levels of the court system. That said, I see no point in continuing this conversation, thus I'll stop here and have some of that popcorn over there.
 
Yeah, fantasy
rolleyes.gif
. That's exactly how things progress from a broken taillight to federal felony charges. 1 step at a time. The first step is completely immaterial to where you end up. This progression isn't new, it isn't more prevalent today than it was yesterday.

Your argument that it should be otherwise is just silly. You can't rationally expect that le is going to ignore evidence of a crime just because the initial contact was a traffic stop.
 
Gee Indy, please keep in mind I DID offer to refrain from further comment, however for the sake of those who still think this is all about a bad search and conviction, I'll try one more time.

About my argument about how things should be being "silly"... maybe it is. I am an idealist at heart. Part of me really WANTS to believe in the possibility of a constitutional republic. However I also know this can never be and if you missed my conclusion on that, I take full responsibility. If nothing else, this case is a glaring example of the total futility of any inkling of a return to constitutional rule of law. You are right – it ain't happenin'.

This is something I can live with because unlike my fellow conservatives who have rejected God, I am continuously refreshed by the Hope of the Return. Atheists will, of course scoff, and that is fine with me. But I can't help wondering... what have they left to look forward to? A benevolent dictatorship? A communist paradise? We have seen all of these come and go and then some. The last, great hope of secular mankind was a constitutional republic, and we've ruined it.

Everything I posted in this thread was meant to point out how utterly our constitution has been devastated. There is no rule of law. We are left with tyranny and this increases exponentially every day. Welcome to twilight in America. Darkness will soon be here. I am merely trying to shine a light on the only path to safety in this mess. One comment from a non-believing friend from decades ago comes to mind. “What if you are wrong?”, he'd ask. My answer was then and even more so today is “I'd rather be wrong than be in your shoes and correct.”
 
The natural state of Man is oppression of others.
been that way for as long as recorded history can tell us.

It's not until recent history (last couple hundred years) have we seen self restraint and the use of laws to limit the power of government.

Even that is tenuous at best. Look at Russia in the 90's going from full on Communism to democracy and then within a couple of cycles reverting back.

When the laws and constitution were created it was to limit the involvement of the government in your life.
Today that isn't the case. You cannot get up and go about your day without breaking some kind of law, regulations, or some other thing. That wasn't the intent of the nation.

The other thing is that those that have spent their lives invested in that state have a very hard time seeing it for what it is. It gives them value and sense of self worth. Cops do a good job, and for the most part do the right thing. (most of them)
But at the end of the day, politicians pushing the limits create laws to control your lives, "for your own good" and use the sort of educated to keep the uneducated masses in line.

Laws have been created and used to keep control. Most of them target or are enforced on the poor disproportionately than the well educated. The well educated have the means and resources to point out the stupidity of the laws and challenge them. There are plenty of studies that show the rich are able to fight and find the loop holes of the laws created, while the poor get the worst turd of a lawyer out there.

Yes, they are all breaking the law, but who created that law and is it really in the best interest of the community?

In this situtation, the vet was speeding. It didn't say that he was reckless so we are left to assume that it's less than 15 over. Is that really so dangerous? were there speeding laws with horses? I bet there were those that wanted them. More people are dying every year from doctors giving meds to people that are a "mistake" than dying from traffic accidents. We are not tossing doctors in jail for murder, we are arresting and fining people for speeding. because it makes money, money the government then gets to spend on what ever projects they want.

Gun laws. we have piles of them, to the point that someone with magazines that politicians say hold to many bullets and for that, we are going to ruin a persons life, leave him poor, in jail for what is in effect the rest of his life, and when he gets out, he will have no opportunity to be able to live at near where he was today. All because of a control law.

There is a difference between general saftey for all laws, and the rest. Murder, yep makes sense. gun laws are just control and other laws already cover that. So what if I have a machine gun.. I can't shoot someone with it or that is murder.

We allow it through our voting. If we were really serious about it, we as a people could vote in tons of libertarians and go back to freedom of the 70s, 60s of roll things back to the same as the 40s.
Look at the hunting laws of today against the laws of the 60s. Used to go deer hunting during the season. Now it's a lottery, and limited to one area and one week and so on.

hey, if you can't see it, fine so what, go on with your opinion. But, realize that there is a curtain, and if you pull it back with open eye's you might see it different and see that it's really about control.
Magazine limitations are about control and not safety. The speeding stop is about funding, and the felony escalations are about control.
 
Originally Posted By: NdIndyI'm really not sure how we went from procedural searches to religion and atheism.

I'm not sure either, but it seems like sometimes when some folks don't like things,
they hope the world will end ASAP and anybody that doesn't agree with that is an atheist whose opinion doesn't matter anyway.

And your post on procedural searches is spot on.
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