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Image courtesy Van Buren County Sheriff

Texas federal prosecutors took a bite out of crime last week, when a former ‘McGruff The Crime Dog’ actor named John R. Morales was sentenced to 16 years in prison for drugs and weapons charges. Morales was paid to appear in a costume like this one as McGruff The Crime Dog, giving crime-prevention speeches and tips to children. His kibbles, er, troubles all started in 2011 when he was pulled over for speeding. . .

This traffic stop wouldn’t end with a ticket, though, because Morales had stupidly left two diagrams of his indoor marijuana grow operations sitting on the front seat of his car. After a police dog (a real police dog) alerted for the presence of drugs, officers searched the car and obtained a search warrant for Morales’ home.

There they discovered 1,000 pot plants, along with 27 guns, 9,000 rounds of ammo, and a grenade launcher. I’d call that a ‘collection’ instead of ‘arsenal’ but maybe that’s just me.

Okay, But…

Image courtesy Atlantic Firearms

The ‘grenade launcher’ may have gotten all the headlines (including mine) but the actual implement was far more likely a completely-legal 37mm flare launcher like this one.

37mm launchers are not considered destructive devices under the NFA, and they’re not even very expensive. Since 37mm ammo is all novelty rounds like flares, gas, or bird bombs, this ‘grenade launcher’ is likely all bark and no bite.

Source: CBS-Houston

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32 COMMENTS

  1. Weed farm, eh? Maybe that’s why he’s so anxious to take a bite out of crime: It’s not civic duty, he’s got the MUNCHIES!

  3. Because I wrote this story for tomorrow’s Digest, and now I won’t get to use it, I have to give you my last line, because it made me laugh:

    41-year-old Morales pleaded guilty Monday, insisting he was nonviolent. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore said, “Everything I read about you makes you seem like a scary person.” That’s ruff.

    • So owning a bunch of guns make you scary? I would hate to be judged on how many guns I owned rather than my actual actions in life.

        • There could be more to it, but I was assuming she thought he was scary because of his “arsenal”. He might have a record that shows a pattern of scariness. Or he might just be a pothead who collects guns and doesn’t hurt anyone.

        • Yeah, that’s why I wonder. The details are more than a tidge sketchy.

          Unless he had prismatic viewing blocks and firing slits all ’round his armour-clad rockhouse, he sounds decidedly un-scary.

          1000 plants, though, is more than a pothead. Still, that’s ganga with less blood on it than some. Wonder if he was selling to the nastiest, bloody-turfiest gang out there, or what?

          Any which way, though, li’l Eric’s amigos would not’ve profited by it; wonder if that’s the beef…?

    • Just how many weed plants does one need to have an “arsenal” of weed?

      Oh… you meant the gunnnnns 😉

    • Don’t really wanna think on the parallels between dog-on-the-street and human-in-prison behaviours.

      Too many points of correlation for comfort…

  12. I always thought McGruff was shifty, can’t trust someone who wears a trench coat around kids.

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