Columbus restaurant server arrested on charges of using customer cards for fraud

LINK: Reporting for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Story by Mark Rice 

The Gist: Several restaurant servers (family members) who were employed at Longhorn's on Macon Road have been arrested and charged with card fraud. They were allegedly photographing customers' cards and using the info to go on spending sprees for themselves. Oh, and by the way, marijuana selling and possession is still illegal in Georgia for the most part, for those who don't know.

Note: Cannabis in Georgia is illegal for recreational use, but decriminalized in the cities of Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, Athens, and some others. Limited medical use is allowed in the form of cannabis oil containing less than 5% THC.

And it is also illegal to steal and be in possession of someone else's firearms. 

Note: In Georgia, possessing a stolen firearm is illegal and is classified as a felony offense under Theft by Receiving Stolen Property laws. Penalties can include one to ten years in prison. While Georgia law does not require firearm owners to report stolen or lost firearms, doing so is recommended to establish a chain of custody and avoid potential legal issues if the firearm is later used in a crime. Firearms are automatically considered a felony offense and if convicted, can require mandatory minimums of one to ten years, depending. Of course, that charge can be offset by "intent to return" the weapon to is rightful owner - Georgia is very lax about gun laws like that. The laws do encourage less severe punishment for murders than it does 

In Colorado, if you are caught with a weapon that matches ballistics in another gun assault or murder charge, you can and will be charged with that crime for being in possession at the time of arrest, even if you swear you didn't do it, or you know you didn't do it.

The Questions:

1. How long did they think it was going to take for them to get caught? 
2. How much 'fun' were they planning on having before prison was imminent, IF they are actually found guilty, that is.
3. Why do people bother? It's an ages-old game where high-tech sophisticated measures are in place to catch them faster so they can stay in prison longer.

The Truth: Prison, in Georgia at least, is just another plantation. 

In a nation that became addicted to free labor, especially in the south, it's just ripe for taking in more "new wave" slaves, something we've only heard stories of in history books, but should never aspire to become. We volunteer to join the ancestors of the 1600s-1800s by taking such chances.

It's a place where someone (like your mother did when you were a child) tells you when to get up, when to go to sleep, when you can shower, what time you can eat, how much you can have, when you can watch TV, when you can visit the canteen and buy junk snacks, and what your work schedule "chores" are like for the day. 

I heard they took the exercise equipment away because the penal systems shouldn't be paying for prisoners to "buff up," but the smoke breaks still exist, if you enjoy the idea of lung and stomach cancer.

There is no ordering pizza unless some jailer decides to be kind in a flash of inspiration, or going out with friends-unless it's a cellmate, and as one former prisoner explained when asked "What is prison like?", answered "The everyday smell of feet and a$$."

Some people, particularly youth, consider prison, or even jail, a "badge of honor" with the homie crowd, but it's a mental health malady to believe so. 

Youth crimes of murder in Columbus stay at critical mass, and it seems like every young death here is mostly (majorly) people of color taking one another for a permanent walk, destroying their own lives and the lives of their families at the same time.

It sticks, because the families of the murderer and the one who was killed are bound together for all eternity. Related by blood takes on a whole new meaning this way.

There are people who will ask 'where they do that at?', so considering prison and jail a 'pride point' is questionable, and the reasons people commit these and other types of "crimes" remain up in the air. However, one thing is clear above all else: There's always another choice. 

***You're not Donald J. Trump, and you don't get to be a convicted felon and rapist and get elected President at the same time. He's an anomaly where only perceived riches and #SkinColorMatters***

#THINKTWICE #THINK A THIRD TIME #THINKINQUADRUPLETS #THINKINQUINTUPLETS

#TheftColumbusGa #PrisonBait #NoCrimeNoTime #Incalculable #GeorgiaLaws #MarijuanaLaws #FirearmLaws #TheftByReceiving #CrimeColumbusGa #CreditCardFraud #LocalLaws #CriminalsintheWhiteHouse #CardFraud

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