Man faces fine imitating Seinfeld's cash for cans scheme
A US man is facing a $5000 fine after he was allegedly caught trying to return cans for cash in another state.
In an effort that mirrors Seinfeld’s two-part The Bottle Deposit episode, where Kramer wanted to drop 10,000 bottles and cans to a depot in Michigan for a better return, Brian Edward Everidge was stopped by police earlier this year.
Just like Kramer, it is alleged Mr Everidge was trying to return the cans and bottles to get 10 cents instead of 5 in other states.
Mr Everidge was allegedly spotted speeding on April 27 and when stopped by police, officers located his box truck “packed” full of more than 10,000 cans.
“I don’t think you could have put another five or 10 cans in there,” Officer Clifford Lyden, who pulled over Everidge, testified.
It’s alleged the 44-year-old, who lives in Michigan, told officers he had travelled to Kentucky to collect the thousands of cans.
But Mr Everidge’s attorney claims his client failed to commit any offence because the officers stopped him too soon.
“He attempted to attempt to return the bottles... this statute doesn’t fit,” he told the courthouse.
Mr Everidge was charged under Michigan’s Beverage Containers Act and appeared in court last week.
It is illegal to return bottles to a depot in Michigan that a person knowingly did not get in the state.
Under the Act, anyone who tries to returns 10,000 or more cans/bottles faces up to five years in prison and $5000 in fines.
The famed Seinfeld episode showed Michigan’s bottle return deposit has the highest refund value in the country.
But in that episode, Kramer gives up on the scheme – not because he would get caught, but because he spots Jerry’s stolen car along the way and abandons the bottles in a bid to make his truck move faster in a chase.
