Single mother of six facing jail time after selling homemade meal to undercover investigator

Thursday, November 24, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: regulations, food police, California

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(NaturalNews) Only in America 2016 has liberty been so polluted and restrained by the massive police state that a single mother of six could be facing jail time for selling a homemade meal.

The Daily Sheeple reports that, in December 2015, Mariza Reulas, of Stockton, Calif., was cited for operating a food facility and engaging in business without the blessing of the powers that be (as in, she didn't have a permit).

Now, she is actually facing jail time for selling a homemade dish to an undercover investigator. Let that sink in: There was actually an undercover sting operation to catch someone selling homemade food! All she was selling was a helping of ceviche, a seafood dish that is popular in South America.

According to the Institute for Justice, Reulas is a member of the 209 Food Spot group on Facebook – a social media meeting and sharing place for Stockton residents who exchange recipes, organize potluck dinners and occasionally buy and trade with the goods they prepare at home.

"Somebody would be like, 'Oh, I don't have anything to trade you, but I would love to buy a plate,'" she told a local news station, in reference to the Facebook group.

But then San Joaquin County got involved in this massive criminal enterprise. An undercover investigator from the county called her asking to buy some of her ceviche, and she said she would sell some. But in the insane asylum known as California, this activity is against the law.

So she was charged, along with the other members of the 209 Food Spot, with a pair of misdemeanors. "It was just like unreal that they were saying you could face up to a year in jail," she told Fox 40.

She was offered a plea bargain deal, however – admit her guilt and she would "get off" with three years of probation, 80 hours of community service and a $235 fine. But she refused this, so now a trial has been set for December. If convicted, this food criminal could actually get the one year in jail.

San Joaquin County deputy district attorney, Kelly McDaniel, attempted to justify this legal disgrace with the typical excuse that she is only "enforcing" the law, as if to say she has no responsibility for the harm that is being caused the Ruelas family.

"I don't write the laws, I enforce them. And the legislature has felt that this is a crime," McDaniel told Fox 40. Of course, there is also something called prosecutorial discretion, but she didn't discuss that.

And remember, this is the same state where official after official has said that they will refuse to enforce legitimate federal immigration laws or help the Trump administration identify and deport those who are in our country illegally.

McDaniel further attempted to justify this ridiculous prosecution by saying that any food not subject to an inspection from the county health department puts people in real danger – as if needing to pass muster from a government agency that has stamped out all instances of dangerous food being sold and consumed (hint: it hasn't). And she tried to make it sound as though a couple of meals exchanged or sold between members of a group are somehow a massive threat to business owners because that's so much competition.

What is really at play here is the deep, blue state of California's ongoing war with freedom and entrepreneurial endeavors. The little Stalinist Democrats who run the state are far less concerned with food safety than they are in controlling the masses. Think of what this one sting is going to cost taxpayers in San Joaquin County – the sting operation itself, the hours taken to prepare a case, the trial ... it's absurd.

Only authoritarians who believe the government has a right to tell you what foods you can and can't buy think this is all just okay.

Sources:

TheDailySheeple.com

Fox40.com

LATimes.com