Florida Man cleared of money laundering after selling Bitcoins to Agent Ponzi

Ponzi and bitcoins

The circle is complete

Yet another Ponzi scheme...

But I think Eddy Ito is right; this is closer to an entrapment than anything else. Which seems to me as something that reflects badly on the law enforcement agencies involved as it is both stupid and lazy. You'd think the Secret Service and the Miami PD had better things to do. Like, you know, going after criminals. As in 'people who are committing actual crimes' as opposed to setting up people who might do something that might be illegal.

Other laws?

Closest comparison I can think of is someone going into a jewellers to buy a gold chain, and telling the jeweller that he is going to exchange the gold chain for stolen credit card numbers.

Apart from the obvious question "Why are you telling me that?" what crime(s) is the jeweller committing?

Possibly if the customer goes on to commit the crime of buying stolen property then the jeweller might be considered an accessory.

However for this to be applicable the officers would then have to go on to commit the crime, I assume.

Laundering?

My understanding is that laundering money means taking money that has been acquired by illegal means and undertaking some shenanigans to make it appear legitimate. Telling someone you're going to use some money to do something illegal isn't the same thing at all. Regardless of the status of bitcoin, the charges here don't appear to have anything to do with the actual facts of the case.

Stay Tuned ...

for the continuing adventures of Florida Man!

/r/FloridaMan

sting versus entrapment

IANAL, but I believe entrapment requires three criteria have to have been met:

1. The idea for the crime must have originated from the government agents and not from the accused person.

2. Government agents persuaded the person into committing the crime, as opposed to just giving him or her the opportunity to do so.

3. The person was not ready or willing to commit the crime before speaking to the government agents.

Since selling bitcoin is not in itself a crime, and the chap never actually committed any other crime it's pretty tricky to prove anything.

It's also why you shouldn't buy drugs etc as a "favor" to a friend.

Legal versus Moral

Personally if someone told me that they were purchasing something in order to commit a crime I would tell them to go away (and possibly phone the police once they are gone - a separate moral choice). Normally people don't tell honest traders, if they intend to use what they purchase for committing a crime.

Whether falling for temptation should be criminal or whether it is entrapment is a matter of law, but on moral grounds it is quite clear that to proceed with the sale is immoral.

And on common-sense grounds, you have to be remarkably thick not to smell a rat. "WTF are you telling me that?" should be anyone's reaction, whether standing on moral high ground or in a deep cesspit of criminality!

Whatever kills you make you stronger. Somehow

I'm pleased with the way this court case was resolved for the defendant, since there's nothing more desperate and pathetic than a criminal created out of thin air by law enforcement. But you have to be willfully stupid not to understand that you put real money in Bitcoin and get real money out. And you put real money in PayPal and get real money out. And you put real money in Visa prepaid cards and get real money out. Banking for the unbanked. (Or boinking for the unboinked, in the case of virtual reality.)

In the future, Judge Poole, just dismiss the case with prejudice and call it a day. As it is, you've done nothing except kick the can down the road, transferring your mess to someone else.

On laundering money..

The only way to "launder" money is to pay taxes on it.

Quote from a TV series (Orphan Black in this case).

Hearing a stated purpose != committing the crime.

Anyone can say anything.

"I'm buying this car because I am going to rob a bank"

"I'm buying this car because I am going to run over my ex"

"I am buying the knife to put it in my enemies chest"

"I am putting gas in my car to drive it through a school bus stop at pickup time"

Truthful or not? Serious or not? Am I to be charged with planning/aiding/abetting a robbery or murder if someone says any of these things to me while I am selling them a car, a steak knife, or a gallon of gasoline? Am I to take each and everything that anyone tells me as absolute, unassailable truth such that I am responsible for any badness that anyone decides to relate to me in the course of a business transaction?

If the purchase or trade that I am making is legal, then it's legal. I am not a mind reader. I posses no paranormal powers to determine the truthfulness of strangers. If it is not illegal for me to swap my <item XXX> for $$$$, then it is not illegal. I am not a human crazy/lie detector, and I am not required to correctly assess the truthfulness of whatever information you tell me, and take that into consideration for the exchange.

p.s. If you tell me you are going to rape little children with <item XXX>, then I will err on the side of innocents and tell the police. But if you tell me you are going to purchase 1000 tabs of oxycodone or buy strippers or put it under your mattress... I don't care. It's like I never heard it.