Florida man stole from judge, police say, put proof on Facebook

Really, dude? That’s the likely reaction to what appears to be the latest entry in the Annals of the Criminally Stupid. First, we must stress that Steven Mulhall, 21, of Coral Springs, Fla., has only been accused -- not convicted -- of the following:

He allegedly stole from a Florida state judge and then posted the evidence on Facebook.

In other words, if Felony Stupidity were a crime, the penalty for this would be life in prison with no shot at parole.

Here’s what happened, according to Doreen Christensen, our colleague at the Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Mulhall pried the nameplate off the door to Broward Circuit Judge Michael Orlando’s courtroom. He then posed with the booty, above, and posted the picture on his girlfriend’s Facebook account, according to Christensen, who cites the arrest record.

A sharp-eyed Facebook “friend” tipped off law enforcement. Deputies verified that Mulhall had been in Judge Orlando’s courtroom around the same time as the theft, which is believed to have occurred on Feb. 23.

And that’s how Mulhall earned himself a one-way trip to county jail, escorted by Broward County Sheriff’s deputies.

The crime itself was fairly minor, Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told the Sun-Sentinel. But the posting of it was akin to taunting the legal system. And it did not help matters that Mulhall has a criminal history.

“The nameplate is like only $40, not that big of a crime, but what an idiot. He puts it on Facebook,” the sheriff said. “Here he is flaunting it on Facebook. He violated the terms of his parole by stealing, from a judge no less. He’s got multiple convictions for petty theft, so now this is a felony.”

Here’s one question we’d like answered. In the Facebook photo, Mulhall has a yellow lighter and what appears to be some kind of ... bag? ... in his lap. What is that?

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