Meet 27 y/o Joshua Concepcion West. That’s him below…
What you see to the left of Joshua is his license plate… actually it’s his license plate covered by a black sheet. The sheet is operated by the push of a button which hides the license plate from view.
And when I say from view I don’t just mean from view of the public or the police, but from the view of toll cameras.
So, apparently, as Joshua would approach one of these toll camera stations he would press the button and…
Down the clack fabric would go…
Joshua was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol Troopers after passing through a toll plaza on Wednesday, January 4th, 2017….. and yup, you guessed it, Joshua had a Trooper right on his tail at the time that he pressed the button.
And so it was that Joshua’s clever device was discovered.
And he was arrested, both for petit / petty theft (for “stealing” the $1.25 toll that the Trooper witnessed) and also for an obscure felony called “Cheating” (I sh*t you not).
Florida Statute 817.29 defines the felony offense of “Cheating” as “Whoever is convicted of any gross fraud or cheat at common law shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree”. So archaic is this law that it stems from the “common law”, common law being precedent, or “case law”, and stemming back to a time when the first laws were enacted and interpreted, and which is effectively a third branch of law that is on equal footing with both legislative statutes and executive regulations.
Per FHP Sergeant Kim Montes, “We’ve seen people hang out the back of cars to put their hand over it, we’ve seen motorcycles take different routes through the express lanes to avoid the camera, people intentionally covert their tags, semi trucks block their tags… He was subsequently arrested for petty theft and also for cheating. So for #1.25 toll, he now has a felony charge. We want to let people know it’s not worth it, pay the toll or don’t use the road.”
Normally I’d give Joshua props for being clever but in this case I can’t. Why? Well first and foremost I’m ethically obligated not to promote criminal behavior, but secondarily, and as the FHP reportedly opined, Joshua would’ve gotten away with it if he hadn’t employed the device while driving directly in front of a State Trooper, making Joshua one of…
It is illegal to cover all or any portion of your license plate in Florida (and I expect this holds true in all States), so don’t do it.
Still, the real take away from this story for me is the FHP finding and charging Joshua with “Cheating”. Even the FHP reportedly admitted that they “can’t recall anyone who’s been charged with [the crime of] cheating”, and neither can I. More than a quarter of a century in this business and I’ve never seen it, proving that A) there’s always something new to learn and see and B) that even the FHP can pull a rabbit out of the hat.
Since 1991 Michael A. Haber, P.A. has an unblemished record of providing boutique criminal defense litigation services to many folks who have been accused of criminality.
Michael A. Haber, Esq. has creatively, effectively and zealously represented clients on a wide variety of criminal matters ranging from DUI to drug trafficking and from misdemeanors to first degree murder.
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THIS BLOG POST (AS ARE ALL OF HABERPA BLOG POSTS) IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH IS PRIMARILY DESIGNED, BY WAY OF REAL WORLD EXAMPLE, TO ASSIST THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN AVOIDING CONDUCT WHICH COULD FORESEEABLY RESULT IN ARREST AND PROSECUTION!
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Top notch, very skilled, and highly attentive. Mr. Haber is a fantastic criminal defense attorney. 
- Thanks again. You are second to none when it comes to defending your clients. For that, I thank you
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