It’s no secret, police have access to the internet & social media. If it is easy for the public to see a picture you have posted, it is just as easy for the police to collect and use your social media content against you in a court of law.
Posting a picture of yourself smoking marijuana is a crime, and it is a great way for police to begin tracking you down. Some may say that is just ridiculous and it’s just the internet, but if you ask 30-year-old Jeremy Clayton of South Carolina he will advise you that it isn’t ridiculous at all.
Clayton posted a photo of a half smoked marijuana joint while “giving the bird” to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department website in the background & using marijuana related hash tags. A concerned citizen saw this post and reported it to their local Sheriffs department. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott assigned the Drug Suppression team to investigate the case.
Shortly after the photo on Instagram, Clayton was caught selling marijuana to deputies on three separate occasions. Coincidence? I doubt it. He is now being charged with felony distribution of marijuana and could be facing up to five years in prison. That’s a rather stiff outcome for what started as a simple Instagram photo.
With all this in mind, we would just like to remind you to pay attention to what you put into the world of social media, anything found on these sites can be used against you in a court of law.