Last week, I wrote about longtime ski bum Charlie Toups, who had been in jail since November on charges of illegal camping, possession of marijuana, and resisting arrest. Toups arrest had spurred a Facebook fan page titled "Free Charlie Toups!" and an online petition. Many people didn't see what the fuss was about.
Last Thursday, Toups was freed from jail and the government dismissed the charges without prejudice. Toups finally plead guilty to the resisting arrest charge, and the government dropped the rest of the charges as part of the deal.
In addition to pleading guilty, Toups had to agree to stay off all Forest Service land, BLM land, and National Parks land, according to a story in the Denver Post. Toups is allowed to ski at the resorts that are on Forest Service land still, as long as he is a paying customer.
It appears that Toups took the plea deal to heart, because when I was leaving Arapahoe Basin on Saturday, Toups' camper truck, which had been the CDOT lot uphill from the Basin since 2007, was gone.
Wherever you've moved on to Charlie, I hope you're still getting some turns in.
However, I'm still left wondering about the proviso to stay off Forest Service, BLM, and National Parks land. Considering that the land is public, it wouldn't seem like something that could be enforced legally. Any lawyers want to wade in on this one?
