Vince Gilligan charged with criminal facilitation
By Aidan Mouellic, Sad Over ‘Breaking Bad’
Vince Gilligan, the American mastermind behind the incredibly popular TV series Breaking Bad, has been taken into custody by the Albuquerque Police. Gilligan is being charged with criminal facilitation for his part in creating, producing, and writing for Breaking Bad. Criminal facilitation is a rare charge, but the authorities believe in their case.
The charges revolve around the actions of an Albuquerque-based drug dealer who was also a big fan of the Breaking Bad series. The unnamed dealer used knowledge and inspiration gained from the series to cook his own batches of methamphetamine. Unfortunately, the meth cooking on the show did not prove sufficiently detailed for the amateur drug dealer/manufacturer, and the drugs he sold eventually led to the fatal poisoning of nine Albuquerque residents.
The Albuquerque Police, which is working with the FBI on this case, released a statement yesterday, saying that “the arrest of television writer Vince Gilligan in these Albuquerque poisonings heralds a major development in the case; this is the man who’s been teaching our citizens to become evil and dangerous.”
Gilligan’s lawyer disagrees, and claims that the police are on a witch-hunt. Geoff Ridge, Gilligan’s defence attorney, says “the police are looking for a scapegoat and it just happens to be Vince. He created a genius TV series that happened to inspire someone to cook their own meth. It’s not Vince’s fault that this amateur meth chef decided to embark on a criminal path.”
Families of the deceased drug-users are also mystified by the arrest of Gilligan. Barbara Meister, whose daughter Julia was one of the tragically poisoned meth-users, thinks that “arresting Vince on a bogus charge is absolutely insane! Julia loved watching Breaking Bad and started smoking meth to better understand the show and connect to the characters. She would never want her idol, Vince Gilligan, arrested and blamed for her death!”
The dealer who cooked the defective batch is facing a possible 10-year sentence for charges of drug manufacturing, drug dealing, drug possession, and manslaughter. Prosecutors are seeking a harsher sentence for Gilligan’s criminal facilitation charges, hoping for a minimum 20-year sentence.
Hollywood and the public are outraged; even the families of the deceased are voicing their concern over Gilligan’s arrest. Paul Crawley, whose son Daniel ingested a lethal dose, says that “while I want justice to be served, it isn’t Vince Gilligan who’s guilty. It’s the idiot dealer who made poison instead of meth-bliss. Gilligan is just a high profile scapegoat here. If anything, he should be charged for not continuing the series.”
It’s still unclear what the FBI will do with Vince Gilligan, but for the time being, he is being held without bail in a cell where he can hear the chants of support from protestors outside. Crowds have been gathering in support for him ever since his arrest. Even his co-accused, the dealer who made the bad batch, states that “Vince needs to be freed, he did nothing wrong! He’s my idol! He created Walter, who’s my inspiration! Inspiration is not a crime!”
