[Crosspost from /r/bitcoin]
https://pay.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2gf9pf/here_comes_the_government_again/
First of all, I'd like to point out that I'm not the average Reddit user, and that I rarely post (pls dont bash ;c;).
But something on the news today got me jumping, and I think it could be of concern for the future of Bitcoin trading, thus me posting here in the first place.
THE THING
If you ever did business on http://localbitcoins.com, or ever had bitcoins in hand at all, then this is of matter for you to read further.
Last February, A canadian called Pascal Reid, was arrested and is currently being used as the puppet of the state to make your "future" life a whole lot harder.
The State of Florida is charging Pascal Reid with 2 counts of money laundering and 1 count of operating a money service business without a license (really?).
Pascal pleaded not guilty on all 3 counts. Pascal was setup and arrested based on a fictitious story about the source of the money involved in the transaction.
The arrest affidavit also mention Pascal requesting illegal identification when no such request was made and Pascal declining the purchase of stolen credit cards offered at several occasions by the Secret Service agent.
Long story short, the guy was the average bitcoin trader, and when an undercover agent went ahead, saying he wanted to buy stolen credit cards, Pascal refused, then they SWATed him anyways, creating false evidence.
The government is simply trying to pave the road to make future cases a lot easier to solve for the police department, meaning that if the false accusations of this case are put forward and the guy gets imprisoned (for a minimum of 25 years, by the way), then whatever case includes Bitcoins, is going to be referred to that case in particular.
The guy is totally innocent, never did anything wrong, and simply wanted to make Bitcoins more of a reality, like all of you guys.
So, the thing is, we may be required to own a license to sell bitcoins at some point if we allow that, because the long term goal of the US government is to put laws and regulations on the currency, and eventually control it.
Pascal geared himself with a super legal team, but however, it costs around 25,000$ per month (Ouch!).
His mom put up a small website in order to raise funds: http://supportpascal.org/
Here's the full report: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/how-a-canadian-was-charged-with-money-laundering-in-sale-of-bitcoins/article16831445/
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? (AKA the website puts it better than me :v)
The State of Florida is using Pascal as an example and to set precedents and to establish new regulations in regards to the new digital currency.
They have setup a fictitious story and contacted Pascal directly from the website localbitcoins.com in order to trade bitcoins.
With these charges, even a first offender who has never been arrested before, could faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years on one of the money laundering charge, an additional 5 years for the second money laundering charge and 5 years on the unlicensed money transmitter charge for a total of 25 years if the judge was to give a consecutive maximum sentence.
For this reason, Pascal needs the best legal defense available.
The website accepts donations via Bitcoins and PayPal alike. I already donated 10$, but talking about it is much more powerful IMO than giving money.
So, on that note, thanks for reading my post, and I hope that this will induce some thinking on the future of the awesome, cat-fueled currency that is Bitcoin.
Lot's o' Love
An occasional Redditor!~
Im not the poster above, just reposting, my thoughts:
The OP's post tends to focus on whether he was guilty of the claim that he sold bitcoin to someone who said they were going to use it for some nefarious purpose, this should not detract from the reality that this claim by FBI investigators is in no way connected to the fact that hes being charged solely for trading btc without a MSB license.
The whole claim that he was aiding a criminal activity is to make him look bad while the government goes through with its real agenda, making local bitcoin traders into criminals.
Supporting this case is defending against the goverment/banking cartels ultimate mission: regulating bitcoin out of existence.
Standard government cunts up to no good trying to ruin our fun.
Feddy fucks...