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How a single Facebook post landed a man in jail for 15 years

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 9:11PM EST
World's Worst Criminals

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Some people just can’t seem to grasp the concept that social media posts are… social. We see people get themselves in trouble time and time again for oversharing, but it looks like a new king of poor social media judgement has just been crowned. Meet Malik First Born Allah Farrad, who will be spending the next 15 and a half years of his life in a federal penitentiary because of a single Facebook post.

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Farrad, born Marvin Buckles, was sentenced on Thursday to 188 months in a Tennessee federal prison following his 2015 conviction of being a felon in possession of a gun.

The longtime criminal was last convicted of federal gun and drug charges back in 2000 after police found firearms and crack cocaine in his possession. Farrad was released from prison after serving out his sentence. Before that, he had a long history of arrests and convictions that began at age 14, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. His most recent misstep is likely his saddest, however, as authorities never would have known Farrad was breaking the law had he not posted evidence on Facebook.

In 2013, the ex-con posted a selfie on Facebook, pictured above, that showed him holding a .45-caliber pistol and aiming the reflection of its laser sight at his own forehead. Of course, it’s illegal for a convicted felon to carry a firearm, and Farrad posted concrete evidence of his crime on Facebook for all the world to see. Unfortunately for him, the FBI was investigating him for suspected “illicit conduct” at the time, and digging through his social media accounts was part of the investigation.

Farrad’s conviction on Thursday carried a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, and judges can tack on additional time — from 5 years to life in prison — at their discretion. In light of Farrad’s criminal history, the judge presiding over this case sentenced him to an additional 68 months without the possibility of parole.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.