Camp Zoe Seized By The Feds

[ness]

DNR bought the property back in the fall -- that's the last I heard. Former proprietor is in prison, if I remember right.

[Gavin]

Ness is correct...DNR got it last Fall and it is being developed as a State Park. STL PD story below.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/missouri-buys-camp-zoe-former-home-of-schwagstock-festivals-at/article_66d9ad74-0ad1-55d6-81c4-095d859acb3e.html

[mjk86]

I love this line....."The state had wanted to acquire the land for years" Sir....you have been charged with owning something that the state currently wants....your punishment...we take the land and put you in jail....ahh the land of the free.

[ness]

Yep, they'll do it to you. Back in the 80's I lost a couple Cigarettes and a Bonanza V-tail down in the Keys. I've since changed my line of work.

[jdmidwest]

Yep, they'll do it to you. Back in the 80's I lost a couple Cigarettes and a Bonanza V-tail down in the Keys. I've since changed my line of work.

Back then, were you a user or just a mule?

[ness]

Back then, were you a user or just a mule?

No -- I ran a shuttle business. I took congressmen, lobbyists, media honchos, televangelists and 'talent' back and forth to a little island out there in international waters where there were 'no rules', if you know what I mean. The Bonanza was for the ones that got seasick. I guess they figured I knew too much, because one day I woke up in a KC motel room with a new passport,drivers license, a wad of cash and a handwritten note that said 'No'. On the table was a laptop logged onto Ozarkanglers.com as 'ness', and the rest you already know.

[hoglaw]

It's funny how everyone jumped on the bandwagon on this deal blaming law enforcement, the gubment, and whoever else for encroaching on some poor landowner's rights, and it ended in an insinuation that the penalty for owning something that the state wants is to get put in prison. I didn't read pages 2-8, but that's what I've gathered so far.

Apparently the truth was a long way from all of this. The owner was running an open air drug market according to the press release. While I'm as skeptical of the media as the next guy, what I can say with some certainty is this. The feds don't rush to prosecute anyone. They take FOREVER to indict. But by the time they do, they have their case squared away 99.9% of the time. It's a very different mentality from state law enforcement (in non-grand jury states) where charges are filed right out of the gate at the highest level the limited facts known at the time will fit, and the details are sorted out later. The feds are extremely organized and thorough - perhaps too much. In general, state law enforcement will prosecute a much larger percentage of reports, and will do it a heck of a lot quicker. The feds, on the other hand, have a much higher rate of conviction at the level of the original charge.

Also, the State of Missouri wanting the land for a park provides absolutely zero incentive for the feds to prosecute. Plus the state bid at a public auction. To see anything suspicious here, you must assume 1) someone from the state called their buddy in the FBI or US Attorney's office and asked them to file charges and ultimately effect a civil forefiture of property; 2) that the federal buddy had enough in it for him to charge when he otherwise wouldn't; and 3) that the public auction was somehow fixed for the State to get the property at less than fair market value.

Obviously I don't know more about the facts than anyone here. But what I can logically assume is that the owner was doing a whole lot more than letting hippies come down and smoke pot while looking the other way. That doesn't get you a plea to three years in the pen and civil forefiture of your property. That doesnt even get a US Attorney to pay attention.

Ness, I think you had it pegged a lot better from the get-go than others gave you credit for.

[ozark trout fisher]

It's always interesting when old threads (in this case, almost 4 years old) get dug up. Sometimes I read some of my posts that I'd long since forgotten about and just cringe.

[awhuber]

It's always interesting when old threads (in this case, almost 4 years old) get dug up. Sometimes I read some of my posts that I'd long since forgotten about and just cringe.

This is soooooo true!

BTW Jimmie is out of jail now at a halfway house in STL.

[ozark trout fisher]

This one still hurts.

He was right about the Kansas Jayhawk part. To maximize the insult he just should have said that and left everything else off.