freedom-of-speech
Is Roger Ver punished for 10 months in Prison Because of his Speech?
<p><a href="http://voluntaryist.com/howibecame/rogerver.html#.W9gtcuKYNhF" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://voluntaryist.com/howibecame/rogerver.html#.W9gtcuKYNhF</a></p>

<p>Is there a precedent? He claimed that others doing the same thing are given a slap on the wrist and only him get sent to jail.</p>

<p>How exactly the law works in Roger Ver's case?</p>

<p>Are there any other real reason why Roger got 10 months in prison?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>It was basically a firecracker used by farmers to scare deer and birds
  away from their corn fields. While everyone else, including the
  manufacturer, were simply asked to stop selling them I became the only
  person in the nation to be prosecuted.</p>
  
  <p>The reasoning for the prosecution became crystal clear after a meeting
  with the US prosecuting attorney and the under cover ATF agents from
  the debate. In the meeting, my attorney told the prosecutor that
  selling store-bought firecrackers on Ebay isn�t a big deal and that we
  can pay a fine and do some community service to be done with
  everything. When the prosecutor agreed that that sounded reasonable
  one of the ATF agents pounded his hand on the table and shouted ��but
  you didn�t hear the things that he said!� This summed up very clearly
  that they were angry about the things that I had said, not the things
  that I had done.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Is what Roger Ver said true? Is it reasonable or likely to be true? For example, is there a pattern where those that love freedom are more likely to be screwed by justice system in US? \</p>

<p>There is a discussion here <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=120969.0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=120969.0</a></p>

<p>It seems that many people easily buy such firecrackers through post and is doing just fine.</p>

<p>Maybe, but we'll probably never know for sure. </p>

<p>Officially, of course, he was not punished for his speech. He was punished for selling explosives without a license, which he admitted to. (He was also charged with illegally storing explosives and illegally mailing 'injurious material," but those charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea on the first count.)</p>

<p>Whether those charges were a pretext to retaliate is probably unknowable. While it's a well-known fact that law enforcement frequently retaliates against people for exercising their right to free speech, this guy's story doesn't sound very credible.</p>

<p>There is precedent for a prosecution for distributing Pest Control Report 2000, including the prosecution of white supremacist Leo Felton, a sad-sack loser who used the same material to build a bomb around to incite a "racial holy war" the same time.</p>

<p>And just about a month after Ver's conviction, the man who owned the company that manufactured the product was convicted of violating federal explosives and transportation laws. Several months after that, he and his company entered into a consent decree with the Consumer Product Safety Commission ordering them to stop manufacturing Pest Control Report 2000.</p>
