The federal government has long used a controversial “catch and release” system of snitches where it arrests citizens, threatens huge sentences for drugs, and then coerces them into trapping other citizens to reduce the sentence. It is a system designed to inflate arrest figures for local U.S. Attorneys, but it can also lead to get abuses. This was the case recently with one snitch, Tina Rivard, 40, who pleaded guilty to framing an innocent man to avoid jail.

Rivard pleaded guilty in Tacoma to charges of obstructing justice and conspiracy in faking sales of oxycodone — a powerful narcotic painkiller — with an innocent young man whom she knew.

The story began after Rivard was arrested in May for forging prescriptions for narcotics. Agents offered her the standard deal — bring us the scalps of other people to save your own. Rivard told teh feds that a 21-year-old Kelso man with no criminal history was a supplier of illegal oxycodone pills. She proceeded to use a third man in the frame up, including fake calls and drug transfers while under surveillance of the feds.

Rivard could now face 20 years. For the full story, click here

However, the real outrage should be directed at the tactic used to produce the case. In past cases, parents of teenagers have tried to conduct private stings to produce bodies in exchange for their son. Most Americans would be shocked to see the coercion used to get people to hunt their neighbors or other citizens to avoid jail time for themselves or their loved ones. For the story on snitches, click here