What's the penalty for the worst thing you've ever done but were not caught?

For speeding, it might be a $100 fine, etc.

Just a little informal survey, don't say what the offense was (hey, this is a public forum), just what the penalty was. I'm taking a survey for a class, so honesty would be appreciated, only the summary data is compiled. Not a cop, never played one on TV, haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express lately.

If you haven't done anything worthy of a fine or ???, please also feel free to respond.

DS

Edited by Dick-Nixon-in-72 on 01/27/2008 20:06:52 MST.

The penalty for the worst thing I've ever done....Hmmm...Oh yes, how could I forget. I was almost quartered by horses after having been stretched over a bed of fire ants for a day with banjo music playing in the background. All I can say is, don't get caught in the swamp!

what if we don't know what the penalty might be?

i have occasionally exceeded the speed limit. i am a wussy little old granny driver, so not by many mph, but still technically breaking the law. i haven't had a ticket for 14 years, so i have no idea what they cost these days.

i've brought fruit across state lines, too. can't find out what the fines might be.

i'm considering breaking an extremely stupid law. if caught, i would imagine there would be a fine involved, but i can't see that jail time would ever be a serious possibility.

In my youngers days, many years ago, two things that I did on occasion:

1. Tailgate an 18 wheeler in a downpour -- to get maximum splash on my windshield.

2. Drive 120mph and over on the 5 Freeway in open stretches.

I think the penalty for (2) would have been quite expensive.

Edited by ben2world on 01/28/2008 17:31:18 MST.

I accidentally started a fire to a 50 acre field of Wheat.

I used my entire body to try to put the fire out and still don't know how I very luckily put it out.

It burned about 10' x 20' and all in about 30 seconds. Since the wheat was very dry, it was also spreading quick.

Edited by awsorensen on 01/28/2008 19:06:44 MST.

In THIS country? I don't think it was illegal there..... ;-)

I'm not sure of the penalties involved but I've been involved in the planning and execution of a number of pranks of questionable legality.

Plenty of speeding when I first started driving.

I try to avoid doing anything too illegal, more just stuff that's not in the best interest of my health and safety but is plenty fun or funny.

Adam

I don't drive so no missed fines for me.
I escaped Italy to avoid the military service. A long prison sentence would have been the consequence if caught. And no, I don't feel guilty...
Apart from that I make the police and lawyers almost redundant.

I was not aware the cars could travel at 120 mph when Ben was young.
Franco

Prison time in Germany but probably not Denmark, but that's questionable. What's the statute of limitations anyway?!?

Upon returning to my transportation from a multi-day Sierra climbing trip, I found my windshield plastered with parking tickets as was every car parked up road from mine. The "do not park beyond this point" sign was a few inches up road from my bumper. This was inside the boundary of one of our National Parks. Knowing there was no realistic way to appeal the federal citation I worked off my frustration loosening the sign itself, the sign and I both seemed to weigh about the same but anger one out and the sign soon was invoking the law of gravity traveling a downhill trajectory. I knew it cost more then the $300.00 in fines I would pay to replace and maybe a few other people could skip by the tickets for a while.
As childish as my reaction seemed I was legally parked and had humped the miles up the road to the trailhead. Sorry about this my fellow tax payers.
Near another National Park, a backcountry ranger tried to cite me for having my dog off leash, I had untied him so I could sort out the rat's nest he'd made of a the chunk of old climbing rope I had tied him with, of course as he was casually inspecting his rear for something itchy or smelly when the authority person stepped into view, at first I thought I was being given a stern reprimand but soon a book appeared and it all went very south from there. Basically I refused to give her my name telling her my name as incredible as it seemed was really Rumplestiltskin, eventually I realized we weren't going to resolve this in a ranger to dirt bag fashion so I hoisted my pack up, grabbed my now restrained dog, and started walking up a class 4 glacier apron, she was trying to follow so I just picked the nastiest friction direct in front of me. The dog just assumed this was an interesting game called scrambling paws. Radios were produced, threats were barely heard behind me ... this was also a long time ago when I lived out of that pack and 59' ford panel truck.
I do not have a problem with authority just mis-guided authority.

Franco:

Is there a toll-free number in Italy that one can call and report AWOL's in exchange for a financial reward?

You can do it here
http://www.dri-sleeper.com/
Franco

Edited by Franco on 01/29/2008 14:21:45 MST.

that's a very value-laden word

in some countries, for example, they have death penalty for possesion of a small amount of THC carrying vegetable matter - and a lot of us were in college once, right?

i think the worst thing i ever did was tell my college girlfriend i was breaking up with her because she couldn't have a baby (it wasn't true, but i wanted to burn a bridge)

the worst possible penalty? see above ;)

I grew up in the South. There's lots of guns in the South.

As a teenager, I along with some friends were shot at by an angry gentleman with a shotgun.

I think the penalty for me could have been really really bad if he hadn't been aiming over our heads.

The penalty for him . . . probably not much where I grew up as I'm guessing he probably had some cousins or relatives on the police force.

as someone who works with and defends people who do real bad things (as well as no-things at all) and have real bad things done to them in return (thanks to the State), its humorous but somewhat disturbing to read the responses in this thread.

suffice to say that anyone on this site is most likely not a hard core criminal. we're backpackers, mountaineers, etc.! so to the guy who posted the original message, the value of the data you are getting is basically nil.

but let me say this, if the people that do the really bad things were exposed to the types of things we talk about and enjoy on this site, and if they had the oppotunity to be instilled with some backcountry ethics, they wouldnt be facing the exposure to such things as indeterminate sentences (aka a life sentence) and double digit prison terms. thats a sad thing.

another note to the person who said in some countries you can get a life sentence for having weed. if you mean some countries like the US, you would be right. because people have and people do get life sentences for having weed when they have the right (or wrong depending on the perspective) combination of priors.

lets save talk about what crimes weve done for a different forum. anyway, unless youre a criminal attorney you probably dont know what the potential exposure is (and i say that in the criminal context not the mountainer context). and you also dont know what crime you could be charged with for your conduct. trust me, you can fit conduct that seems fairly innocent into any number of crimes.

i see and work with it everyday.

I've been charged by many-a-lady as being "too cool".

Sorry. That was lame.

I don't know what the fine or penalty would have been.

I was almost 5. The year was 1973 and it was spring. I was playing in the creek. I saw some really nice rocks the size of an adult fist. I plugged the culvert under the road using those rocks and some mud/clay that dried up like you would not believe. Two days later we had major rains that caused substantial flooding in many communities... our roadway was gravel and it went over that culvert - until the rain washed it away because the water had nowhere to go. They paved the road that year. The farmer couldn't use his field.

I confessed to Daddy when I was 13.

Many, many years ago while bar hopping in Barcelona, two friends and I after spending all our money decided to have one more and then run. Drunk minds are creative. We ran through the crowd and then outside and down the street into another bar. Once was not enough, we had three great escapes!

In response to Dylan, yes our drug laws are horrible. It is tragic what happens (our brutal prison system) to people for what is really a mental health issue. I encourage everyone to take a minute and check out www.famm.org and see what's really happening to our fellow brothers and sisters. It really is heartbreaking.