How a poacher turns a misdemeanor into a felony

Hello divers,
Did anyone see this in the news? Since we can't actually dive this month, let's pass the time laughing at those idiots out there:

http://www.advocate-news.com/ci_9982738?source=most_viewed

Ab diver sentenced to 270 days in jail for attempted bribery
By DON CLAYBROOK
Article Last Updated: 07/24/2008 08:01:39 AM PDT

A San Francisco man was sentenced Monday to nine months in Mendocino County Jail for attempting to bribe Fish & Game Warden Gary Combes with a $50 bill.

The encounter

On April 21, 2007, at about 11 a.m., Warden Combes noticed a man in a wet suit heading for his car on Highway 1 near Gordon Lane, between Mendocino and Little River. The 24-year veteran of the department testified at the preliminary hearing that Xiu J. Zhao, 44, appeared to have two bags of abalone in his possession as he made his way to his vehicle.

Combes, in uniform, stopped Zhao and asked him how he had done abalone diving. Combes asked Zhao for his license and as Zhao went to his vehicle to get the license, Combes began to check Zhao's bags. One bag had an overlimit of Tegula (Turban Snails) and the other had abalone in it. By the time Zhao returned with his fishing license, according to Combes, Zhao had begun to show signs of distress and seemed nervous and distraught.

When Zhao handed his license to Combes, he put his hand in Combes' pocket and the warden jerked away. He found a $50 bill in the pocket where Zhao's hand had been.

Combes then told Zhao he couldn't take the money, whereupon Zhao said, "It's OK, it's OK, no ticket."

The prelim

At his preliminary hearing last year in November, Zhao was held to answer by Judge Jonathan Lehan at Ten Mile Court in Fort Bragg. Lehan said, "I do believe that the evidence establishes that the defendant did give
or offer a bribe to an executive officer with the intent to influence him in respect to any act, decision ... or other proceeding."
When he was arraigned, Zhao pleaded not guilty but later decided to enter into a plea bargain whereby he would plead no contest to the bribery attempt and the other charges would be dismissed.

The sentencing

Following a review and report from Probation that recommended no jail time, Judge Lehan imposed the sentence that had been recommended by Deputy District Attorney Tim Stoen.

Stoen listed two reasons why he asked for the jail time: the serious impact on the criminal justice system of the felony bribing of a law enforcement officer, and the defendant's false statement to the probation officer that his placing of a $50 bill into the officer's jacket was to "pay the fine on the spot."

Stoen's pleading for a stiff sentence was moving. He said, "Bribery goes to the very foundation of our rule of law. There is no question but that the defendant committed the act of bribery. Not to impose a substantial jail sentence in this case would send an alarming signal to the law-abiding community on the Mendocino Coast."

In Lehan's words, when Zhao placed the $50 bill in the warden's pocket, he was essentially saying to Combes, "Make the crime go away."

Lehan said that if Zhao's actions were not addressed, "We would have justice by who can pay more." He added, "No court can tolerate that."