Quest for larger equipment leads him toward jail

[malachi]

Ouch.

A Lancaster County man pleaded guilty to mailing a bomb to a Chicago doctor whom he paid $8,000 to enlarge his penis.

This is the story of how a man's wayward quest to enlarge his penis landed him in federal court yesterday, pleading guilty to weapons of mass destruction charges.

His offense: building a tiny bomb and mailing it to the cosmetic surgeon who had promised - but failed - to deliver big results. He faces a likely prison sentence of four years or more on a charge more commonly used against terrorists than dissatisfied customers.

It all began in early 2004 at the home of Brett R. Steidler, a 25-year-old factory worker from a devout Christian family in Reamstown, Lancaster County. Eager to find a cosmetic surgeon who could enlarge his penis, Steidler logged onto the Internet, located one in Chicago, and traveled there for the roughly $8,000 procedure.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/14264575.htm

[Craig3410]

1. Why?

Just answer any one of the thousands of emails you get about it!

:rofl:

[malachi]

9. Two reasons. 1. The Reamstown connection is priceless.

2.This little gem - "Under the relevant federal statute - 18 U.S.C. Section 2332a(a)(2) - this device now qualified as a "weapon of mass destruction," for which the maximum penalty is life in prison." Just one of the many unknown, BS items contained in the wonderful patriot act that can now be used against the average, even those unbalanced, citizen.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Reamstown?

:spray:


On edit: based on the facts in the article, this guy is not deserving of the penalties under WMD rules. What a stupid country we live in.

[400Years]

3. ha ha

:rofl:

[BOSSHOG]

4. I wonder if he's ever had an erection?

That always enlarges my penis.

A devout christian bomb maker! Who da guessed?

[MadHound]

5. I'm sorry, but this sort of sentencing and judgement is wrong in this case

First off, if you're going to be charged with building a WMD, don't you think that the weapon in question should actually be able to kill some masses? I mean really now, the worst that this could have done, if I'm reading the article right, is possibly kill the doctor in question, maybe one other person, wound some folks, and cause some property damage. When I think WMD, I think at least a dozen gone, dozens wounded and some serious property damage.

Secondly, this guy actually helped find the bomb before it went off. He admitted to his mistake, aided the cops, and nobody was hurt.

Third, from the article it says this guy is bi-polar. Now it doesn't go into specifics, but it sounds like the surgery was seriously botched. Combine that sort of emotion with manic depressive, and you've got somebody who is going to blow. Rather than charge him with WMD and throw him in jail, they should put him in a hospital and treat both his physical problems and his mental ones.

But nooooo, this is Bushco's America, where everybody is a terrorist until proven otherwise:eyes:

[Ian David]

6. But did he get that guy in Nigeria, too? n/t

[Ian David]

7. This is Bob. Bob is really mad because.... n/t

[Ian David]

8. Some sites are giving his name as Blake, not Brett n/t

[Ian David]

10. Weird...

<snip>

At 7:45 a.m., after driving all night to arrive home in Reamstown, Steidler had second thoughts.

"I was scared, reality set in, and I called 911," Steidler later told ATF agents. He helped authorities as best he could, even drawing a diagram of his bomb.

By noon, authorities in Youngstown located the package. They used a water cannon from a fire truck to disarm it.

Sentencing is set for July 7 before U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel. Ortiz noted the difference between the sentence for mailing a letter bomb (roughly two years) and the sentence for using a weapon of mass destruction (likely four to eight years) and said prosecutors had overcharged. Prosecutors declined to comment.

"You shouldn't group this guy with people who drive trunk loads of explosives to buildings or gather anthrax or do things for political reasons," Ortiz said. "This was a mail bomb. But apparently, under a reading of the law, it is also a weapon of mass destruction."