Praise The Lord…

…but pass on the ammunition

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) — A Moscow court on Monday sentenced a U.S. pastor to more than three years in prison for smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia.
Phillip Miles admits bringing the shells into Russia but said he did not bother to check if Russian laws differed from U.S. laws.
Phillip Miles, from South Carolina, has been in custody since his arrest on Feb. 3. He was arrested several days after customs agents at a Moscow airport found a box of 20 rifle shells in his luggage.
The court sentenced him to serve three years and two months in prison, with the sentence calculated from his detention date.

Ignorance is certainly no excuse, and I certainly would have checked on Russia’s laws before trying this, but Jeez Luise 3 years is a lot for 20 rounds.
Update: This story gets a little odder. It seems that they at first just confiscated the rounds but let him continue on his trip, only to arrest him a few days later on his way back. Is that normal practice? One would think they would have arrested him when they found the contraband.

2 Responses to “Praise The Lord…”

1. Skyler says:

   April 21, 2008 at 11:08 am

   You’d have to be a really dim bulb to think that the former USSR would permit you to bring ammunition into the country without declaring it.

2. Pastor manning hillary says:

   May 19, 2008 at 6:43 pm

   manning Pastor jeremiah Pastor manning obama