LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WIVB) - A judge in the Town of Lockport has sentenced a local businessman to jail for violating the local ordinance on electronic displays.
In Lockport, the law dictates electronic signs can’t change more than once every ten minutes. In 2009, business owner David Mongielo was first found in violation.
“The law reads that the format or the message may only change once every ten minutes, so the program is the format, and the video is the format, so that alone means it’s legal,” contended Mongielo.
He had to pay a fine of $700, and if he violated the law within a year, he would have to serve 15 days in jail. Days before the year was up, Mongielo’s sign illuminated an upcoming fundraiser for Niagara County Sheriff’s deputy Allen Gerhardt, who lost both legs in an auto accident.
Mongielo argued, “Displaying a fundraising event, happy birthday message, anything non-commercial, it’s my constitutional right; they can’t regulate it.”
He was found in violation again and Tuesday night learned his sentence.
“It’s shocking; it’s disturbing,” he said. “I am a patriot and the dysfunction of America, it can show we don’t have any freedoms locally.”
Mongielo will have to pay a $250 fine and will have to serve a 15-day bail sentence beginning May 17th for breaking the original one-year requirement.
His attorney, Frank Housh, said, “There’s so much wrong with this prosecution - sign ordinance.”
The prosecutor in the case didn’t want to comment. Mongielo and his attorney say they plan to appeal.
I think this is crazy. The guy was supporting the local Niagara county Sheriff who lost both his legs in an accident and now he is going to jail for 15 days.
I mean I get the safety side of it that you don’t want it changing to soon that people are focusing on it as they are driving trying to catch all of the messages, but seriously? 10 minutes is a bit crazy.
I saw this yesterday, really jail time what a fucking joke especially since he was advertising for a cops benifit…not to mention the few thousand dollars it will actually cost to put him in jail for the 15 days…people who get a DWI get no jail time
I posted on the link for Ch. 4. I am honestly surprised there aren’t more people up in arms about this. I don’t even know the guy, but to me, this is just someone on a power trip.
Does this law only pertain to billboards, or electronic signs in general?
This is an absolute joke! No drugs, no alcohol, not fighting, no stabbing, no guns involved… yet jail time for an electronic sign changing to quickly. lol Someone has their priorities out of order on this one.
Jail time seems pretty stupid, but at the same it really seems like the guy pretty much dared the court to do it. A few days before the 1 year conditional part of his original conviction was set to expire, and he just happened to choose to display something that would get him the most support? Call my cynical but I don’t buy that his choice was pure coincidence. He wanted to flip the bird to the town ordinance and did it in a way that would give him the maximum public support should the court come down on him. Still it seems like a huge waste of taxpayer money to put him in jail over this. Double his fine from last time and move on. If people are truly upset about it they can vote in a town board who are in favor of repealing the ordinance.
And maybe I’m just less sympathetic because I despise super bright electronic billboards like the one in his news video. Huge ugly billboards and retina searing electronic signs are about the tackiest form of advertising, only behind spam emails.
This used to be a free country but now the govt control freaks need to get involved with everything you do. It is just more conditioning to make people expect govt interference with everything.
Who says this is the governments responsibility to tell this guy on our behalf as drivers, that the sign shouldn’t change? I just think it is going overboard on their part to make a law and then to try and justify and back it up.
Lol works for speeding tickets…Although that guy could have just bullshitted for 4 pages and the court would have bought it…I mean who really wants to fact check something like that.
Not sure if you’re serious about this or not, but yes, it is exactly the governments job to regulate things like this. On federal highways it falls under federal highway code, state routes are state controlled, and in this instance it’s up to the local town. Unfortunately common sense doesn’t exist and without some regulation every strip mall and auto shop would end up with a 100 foot sign so bright you could tan in front of it because they need to make sure their advertisement is seen over their neighbors 80 foot sign.
I guess they should regulate skirt length and how much cleavage girls can show when walking on the side of the road too. I’d venture to guess that’s a bigger distraction when driving. Where do we draw the line?
That said, it helps to know the culture and history around that place and that guy. He gets thrown out of town meetings on the regular. So I think most of the people that run Lockport are tired of his rants. Sad but true it’s all about your means and who you know. And the people he knows he has pissed off.
Again, the sentence is ridiculous and I don’t agree with it.