MAN'S DEFENSE: PHONY MONEY IS FOR ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR

St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office detectives who raided Ronald Jensen's apartment in June 2009 found a total of $1,680 in counterfeit bills, including burnt $20 bills inside the toilet bowl and a stack of folded $20 bills on the back of the toilet, reports TCPalm.com.

On Friday, Jensen, 53, had his day in court.

Jensen's defense: He argued the fake $20 bills sheriff's deputies found in his house were for a music video he was making to protest Andrew Jackson's signing of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that forced Native Americans to move from their homelands in the Southeast United States to reservations in Oklahoma, the so-called “Trail of Tears,” according to TCPalm.com.

He planned to burn fake $20 bills and flush them down the toilet in the video, reports TCPalm.com.

Claiming to be the son of a Cherokee Indian, Jensen said, “I wanted to demean Andrew Jackson the way he demeaned my people. ... I'm an artist, and I was exercising my freedom of speech. ... I've been charged with a crime I didn't commit,” according to TCPalm.com.

But St. Lucie County Circuit Judge James W. McCann wasn't buying Jensen's story: He sentenced him to 18 months in prison followed by five years of probation.

Nice try.

To read the complete article, see: Man's defense: Phony money is for artistic endeavor (weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/2010/09/
mans_defense_phony_money_is_fo_1.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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