Audio By Carbonatix
Maybe he should have tried to sweeten the deal with Heat tickets?
Eric Scott Topalian, 23, of Boca Raton, was charged with possession of a controlled substance on Saturday, but tried to get out of the charges by bribing the arresting officer with a pair of tickets to Sunday’s Jets vs. Dolphins game. The judge who set Topalian’s bond apparently wasn’t too impressed with the bribe.
“Have you been watching the Dolphins? No one’s going to go to that game,” Palm Beach County Judge Timothy P. McCarthy said at the bond hearing according to the Palm Beach Post.
Topalian began to defend the value of his bribe, but Judge McCarthy cut him off and reminded him that isn’t a good idea considering he’s innocent until proven guilty.
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“Miami-Jets tickets aren’t worth a damn,” concluded McCarthy.
In fact, McCarthy was so unimpressed by the value of the bribe that he actually reduced Topalian’s bond to $6,000.
In addition to the controlled substance charges, Topalian was also charged with bribery of a public servant, threatening a public servant, and resisting arrest without violence.
No word if Topalian posted bail in time to use the tickets himself, but he likely would have seen a game worth more than Judge McCarthy imagined: In Jason Taylor’s last game ever, the Dolphins beat the Jets in a nail biter that kept their most-hated rivals out of the playoffs. Seeing Rex Ryan reduced to tears would have certainly been worth the price of admission.
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