Forging parking passes
A reader raised a good question yesterday about why city prosecutors went after a man accused of forging a parking pass and selling it on the Internet under what seemed an obscure state law when the city statute appears to be much clearer and more on point.
Prosecutors worked out a plea deal in which the suspect agreed to 100 hours of community service and forfeit his parking rights in South Baltimore's Otterbein neighborhood in exchange for getting the charges dropped.
His lawyer had been prepared to argue that the state law didn't apply because it covered the forging of "tokens" that needed to be inserted into the box, which doesn't seem to cover passes put on dashboards or affixed to windshields. Prosecutors disagreed, but the plea agreement allowed both sides to avoid the argument. I wrote in my column that the law should be clearer and Bob Harkum, the chair of the Residential Parking Permit Board, pointed out that the city statue is indeed clear:
"No person may copy, create, or otherwise produce any counterfeit or facsimile of a residential area parking permit."
So why, Harkum asked, didn't prosecutors charge under this statute instead of the state one?
I got an answer today. Prosecutors told me they still believe the state statute applies but could've easily charged the suspect with violating the city code as well. Either way, a spokeswoman told me they believe the deal they struck was appropriate.
Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Poke wrote: "I could have added the the city code charge and I may have done so if it had gone to trial. However I believed the best resolution for the defendant with no prior record of arrests or convictions was to have him forfeit his privileges and serve the community he was defrauding."
Comments
On 01-31-2009 the defendant (Mr. Foster) was issued two valid Area 8 (Otterbein) Visitors Permits (#0699 and #0700) by the Parking Authority of Baltimore City. Were both revoked as part of the Plea Bargain? If not, why not? Where is the deterrent?
“100 hours of community service”? Most neighborhood association leaders put that much time in every month – and none of them have admitted forging permits that provide access to the scarce inventory of on-street parking in downtown Baltimore.
BTW: Mr. White should be ashamed of himself. He is a former member of the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association Parking Committee, which was charged with the responsibility of administering the Area 9 Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program. One would think White would have the ethical good judgment to put all of the knowledge he gleaned through this experience in service to the greater good, as opposed to taking a fee for what he had hoped would be a high profile case that would further his career.
Posted by: ozzie | April 23, 2009 12:51 PM