You can all rest easy because the streets of San Joaquin County are now safe from hardened criminals who sell homemade food to their Facebook friends.
Fox 40 reports that to keep you safe, San Joaquin County police conducted a sting operation against members of 209 Food Spot, a Facebook group dedicated to exchanging recipes and sharing food. Now, a single mother of six faces up to a year in jail after she sold some of her homemade ceviche to a Facebook group member who happened to be an undercover cop.
According to Fox 40, Mariza Ruelas and a dozen others were cited with two misdemeanors for "operating a food facility and engaging in business without a permit.”
“It was just, like, unreal that they were saying you can face up to a year in jail,” she said.
"Somebody would be like, 'Oh I don't have anything to trade you but I would love to buy a plate,' like they'd be off of work,” she continued.
San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel justified the sting operation to Fox 40 by saying it was in the interest of protecting public health.
“I don’t write the laws, I enforce them,” McDaniel said. “And the legislature has felt that this is a crime.”
“Food prepared in a facility that is not inspected creates a risk to the public,” she explained.
Ruelas, who refused to take a plea deal for three years probation, now faces up to a year in jail for selling another member some of her ceviche.
Ruelas said the legal proceedings have taken a toll on her youngest son, Justice.
“The night before he always asks, like, ‘Are you going to come back?’” she said.
For those wondering if the cops in San Joaquin County have nothing better to do than nark on single mothers sharing food photos, according to AreaVibes, a website dedicated to determining the "livability" of an area, San Joaquin County has a crime rate 11 percent higher than the national average. In fact, Forbes listed Stockton, where Ruelas lives, as the 8th most dangerous city in the United States in 2012.
If you think a single mother of six facing jail time for cooking food is bad enough, this is far from the first time governments have cracked down on people selling homemade food without a permit. Even children's lemonade stands are apparently not free from being required to obtain—and display—a permit.