Incarcerated Ham

[k4kyv]

I have noticed for years the monthly item in the ER classified ads, the "Incarcerated Ham" who seeks correspondence with others regarding R-390s and other tube type military radios, and postwar surplus catalogues. He gives a PA address.

Has anyone responded to his request for correspondence? Know what he was convicted for, if he is FCC licensed, and when/if he will be let out in the foreseeable future, or know anything else about him or his situation.

[KA3ZLR]

Yea, an then He'll want ya to contact his women or son or daughter and get you Pinned...

Not Good Not Good...No NO.


73
Jack
KA3ZLR

[k4kyv]

Yea, an then He'll want ya to contact his women or son or daughter and get you Pinned...

Not Good Not Good...No NO.

Agreed.  I have heard of precisely that happening to women and young girls who answered "lonely hearts" classified ads from convicts, thinking they would only be cheering up someone's bleak life with casual correspondence and friendship. Ended up getting into a situation they couldn't easily get out of.

[Bill, KD0HG]

Yea, an then He'll want ya to contact his women or son or daughter and get you Pinned...

Not Good Not Good...No NO.

Agreed.  I have heard of precisely that happening to women and young girls who answered "lonely hearts" classified ads from convicts, thinking they would only be cheering up someone's bleak life with casual correspondence and friendship. Ended up getting into a situation they couldn't easily get out of.

Don, how would you handle a lonely hearts ad from K1JJ?

[K1JJ]

Yep, Bill, I'm always looking for some action...

Don, if it's the same one, the guy you're talking about goes by the nickname "StormBringer."  About 12? years ago a number of us on 75M AM got letters from him looking to correspond via US mail.  He had a small receiver in his cell in a fed pen in PA. He had a website that described his situation as set up by someone on the outside.

Anyway, he seems like a poor soul looking to communicate with the outside world. IIRC his sentence was quite lengthy and he was looking at appeals.  Don't know any more and never followed up.

(The AM audience runs far and wide)

T

[KM1H]

Now dont y'all go cheating on me Tommy boy with some sweet talkin redneck.

We has us a date for Nearfest.

[kb3ouk]

tom, sounds like you are talking about Bil Smith. I heard about him one time i was listening to WBCQ. as i understand it, he was arrested for some kind of gun law violation, here's all the legal documents from his case if anyone is interested in seeing them.
http://bratland.org/bill/bill.html

[flintstone mop]

I had contact with "Stormbringer" about 5 yrs ago. He would listen to WBCQ and would catch my radio show. He was in contact with Allan Weiner and asked him for my home address. Allan said Stormbringer was some unfortunate guy who loved radio and the amateur hobby and wanted to correspond with someone of the same ilk.
He requested some music and wanted to get some friendship going through Amateur radio. The handwritten letters were getting longer and longer and he wanted to get more into my personal affairs and I just quit replying.
Maybe a hard luck type of guy with a dark cloud following him around....dunno

[k4kyv]

Looks  like the same guy.  The name given in the ER ad is "W.K. Smith".

Here is one (incomplete) version of the story.

http://bratland.org/bill/Bill%20web%20page.htm

This clears up at least some of the mystery behind the monthly ad.

[KA0HCP]

Well, that is ONE side of the story.  The search warrants, interview transcripts and trial transcripts give a deeper story.  Yeah there were a couple errors in the prosecution, but they were minor compared to what was correct. WK went of his way to sabotage his own freedom. 

[The Slab Bacon]

That same guy contacted me a few years back. I received a letter from him that seemed innocent enough. He claimed that he was listening to me /us from prison with a modified walkman. Before contacting him back, I decided to do a little research. (In his letter he claimed he was innocent and was framed) the research revealed more than I really needed to know. This guy was some kind of scanner / monitoring afficianado whth an appartment full of gear. And IIRC, he was retransmitting Arlington police calls (or something like that) There was a ton of stuff about him on the internet and his own website as well.

Apparently, this guy must have really pissed in someone's cornflakes as the sentence he got for what he was convicted of seemed a bit harsh by today's standards. He must have really pissed off someone up high in the local gubmint.
After looking at all of the info, I kinda figgered this guy was a little "too hot to handle" and I'd better steer clear of him. This was a few years back.

[W2VW]

Used to correspond with the guy mice-elf.

Same conclusion as above.

He has value and might make a good addition down-band.

[The Slab Bacon]

IIRC, he also had another website with lots of pix and other stuff concearning his incarceration. (this was a few years ago) IIRC, it was kept up by his girlfriend while he was in jail. I guess she gave up and let it go.

[K1JJ]

As the HUZman used to say... "Some people just rain shit down on themselves."  Though, I still feel sorry for anyone who has to live out their lives as a caged animal. There gotta be a better way.  Maybe in the distant future, they will reprogram a perp's brain with a DNA level computer, ala One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest...

T

[WD8BIL]

Though, I still feel sorry for anyone who has to live out their lives as a caged animal.

I don't feel sorry for'em. If you can't do the time.......

I just get tired of paying for their sorry ass.

[k4kyv]

I skimmed some of the court stuff out of curiosity, not worth my time to read through it all. Looks like he got more 20 years for weapons charges. Some people get less time than that for pre-meditated murder, so he must have really pissed the wrong person off. Not sure if he was in possession or if, as he claims, it actually was his girlfriend who owned them and he was just staying in the apartment... kind of a far-fetched alibi, considering the alleged size of the cache of weapons.

Interesting case regarding his original felony convictions, but I am puzzled by some of the legal charges. What in the hell is "statutory burglary" (vs just plain burglary)? Also, what is the difference between "malicious burning" and arson?

[K1JJ]

I don't feel sorry for'em. If you can't do the time.......
I just get tired of paying for their sorry ass.

I hear ya about $ cost. They should find a way to make the inmates productive - like factory work or revive the chain gang. Time is better spent working.

But, being caged in jail is a psychological nightmare. I spent three days in a Virginia jail when I was 15 for a minor infraction. It was the worst 3 days of my life, mainly from claustrophobia and how time was suspended and dragged on forever. I got along with the other prisoners - just imagine if it was constant fighting.  You might say I was "Scared Straight" after that little episode and made sure I never went back...

The average judge gives out sentences in years like candy. Believe me, just a week in jail/prison seems like an eternity.  Whether deserved or not, these guys really pay the piper in hard time -  time erased from their lives.

T

[kg8lb]

IFAIK "Arson" generally applies to the illegal burning of a structure . "Malicous burning" is  the burning of other types of property, perhaps someone else's flag. Usually first degree arson for an occupied dwelling and second dgree for a vacant building .

[k4kyv]

But, being caged in jail is a psychological nightmare. I spent three days in a Virginia jail when I was 15 for a minor infraction. It was the worst 3 days of my life, mainly from claustrophobia and how time was suspended and dragged on forever. I got along with the other prisoners - just imagine if it was constant fighting.  You might say I was "Scared Straight" after that little episode and made sure I never went back...

The average judge gives out sentences in years like candy. Believe me, just a week in jail/prison seems like an eternity.  Whether deserved or not, these guys really pay the piper in hard time -  erased from their lives.

Imagine how those 4000 kids felt who were wrongfully convicted and sentenced by the judges who received a kick-back for each inmate sent to the for-profit detention facility. I hope the kids and/or their families successfully sue those judges and the company running the juvenile facility into oblivion. The company people involved in the pay-off deserve just as much of a stay in the slammer as do the two judges. Looks like that one judge got what he deserves - a dose of his own medicine - and likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I never thought the practice of out-sourcing of prisons was a good idea to begin with.

Kids for Kash

[KA3ZLR]

Yea we seen that yesterday on the news...

They outta get them boys together and Put the
convicts in with em for about an hour..


73
Jack
KA3ZLR

[Bill, KD0HG]

In my early 20s, I was pulled over by a pair of Chicago cops for supposedly running a red light..Which was a complete crock, but it was near dinner time and they apparently needed someone to buy...After a lot of hemming and hawing, I refused to spot them a twenty. Didn't have one, anyway.

Big mistake.

They hauled my ass off to the infamous Cook County Jail where I had to post a cash bond to get out.

All I can say is that it was an educational experience.

They threw baloney sandwiches into the holding pen, one of my companions didn't have a problem with picking one up off the floor next to the crapper and eating it.

My sister arrived with the bail shortly thereafter.

So, I go to Chicago traffic court. Someone busted for speeding complained to the judge about the slow pace of the proceedings and that he had to get to work.

Judge pointing at defendants: "If you weren't all guilty to begin with, you wouldn't be here wasting everyone's time."

So much for fair trials in front of Judge Dredd.

Stunned, the DA dismissed the cases against everyone.