Final Dumbass Award

Men arrested for selling pot on Craig's List
By: Jola Szubielski

Albany police said 26-year-old Schelra Smoot didn't seem to care much whether or not he got caught when he posted an ad selling marijuana -- his ad specifically saying he wasn't afraid of the police.

Detective James Miller of the Albany Police Department said, "Craig's List is used by a lot of younger people so maybe he thought that was the clientele he would be selling to and that nobody would turn him in or alert someone."

Someone did.

Detectives got a tip and set up a sting operation. They bought marijuana from Smoot at his Quail Street home several times in September. They also found his supplier, 36-year-old Perry Hamilton. Police raided Smoot and Hamilton's homes and found four pounds of pot.

"It was very blatant, it wasn't like he was trying to hide anything. He made his cell phone number easily accessible," said Miller.

Ads on Craig's List go virtually unchecked. They said they have too many postings to be able to monitor them all, but have the right to remove any items that violate their terms of agreement.

Those terms clearly state that they do not allow any advertisements for the sale of illegal items that are prohibited by law. If users find something that violates those terms they can flag that particular ad, but it's difficult for law enforcement to stop it from happening.

"There's so many users, its difficult to track. It takes some time to be able to go through the site and find out exactly who is behind the screen so to speak and identify that person. They haven't really found an effective way to enforce it completely. You obviously really need to rely on the people providing the service," said Miller.

Both Smoot and Hamilton were charged with felony possession of marijuana and were sent to Albany County jail. They've since been released on bail.

Craig's List has pulled the ad off of its site.