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Comment by metadat | Hacker News Reader

How could the US Government justify declaring Bum Farto dead when he only would have been in his mid 60's?

The whole story reeks of good-old-boys-club dimensions from beginning to end. He had no education, and lived a sketchily and inexplicably ostentatious life. Outcome: Drug dealer.

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Well it's been 10 years since he went missing. When people go missing for a long time they are declared legally dead, regardless of their age

According to the article, he disappeared in 1976 (48 years ago). Apologies for the pedantry.

At the time he was declared legally dead it had been 10 years.

they mean at time of being declared legally dead (1986) it's been 10 years since he disappeared (1976)

I'm pretty sure that the GP understood that, and was just being nitpicky about grammar. It's incorrect grammar to say "it has been 10 years" in this case.

> so that his wife could collect his pension and insurance policies, worth about $5,000 and $2,000 respectively

Even in '86 dollars, that's not a whole lot of inheritance

He did have to put $25,000 into bail. And probably wasn't the kind of person to put his drug dealing money into a bank.

I was wondering if they meant per month?

5k a month pension, and in 1986??

This has to be AI generated

@whall6: Can you clarify? Not sure I follow.

Bum Farto was born in 1919, declared dead in absentia in 1986, making him 67 years old.

What judge lets high profile drug dealers go home to await sentencing?

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