Editor's Note: The following is taken from the June 1, 2002, issue of this publication's predecessor, The Docket. It has been edited and updated.
In the board game Monopoly, when the "get out of jail free" card is used, it is returned to the bottom of the deck.
Just over two years ago, Dave Bolen of New World Tours in Bristow, Va., narrowly escaped being sent to jail for "negligent management" in an incident involving his company dumping a coach lavatory waste tank into a storm sewer. Instead of getting jail time, Bolen was sentenced to a term of two years probation.
In sentencing Bolen, the judge said in so many words that he had used the motorcoach industry's one-and-only "get out of jail" card. The next offender, she indicated, would be rewarded with jail time.
But unlike the Monopoly card, there was nothing free about the "get out of jail" card Bolen was granted. It cost him and his company dearly.
Bolen was largely confined to his home for six months and had to wear an electronic monitoring anklet, allowing U.S. marshals to know his whereabouts every minute. He was fined $500 and he had to bear the cost of the monitoring, another $600 or more.
His company was fined $50,000, a price that any motorcoach company in America would feel at any time, but one that seemed particularly magnified when it was imposed in the wake of the recovery from the 9/11 tragedy. The company also was placed on probation for a year.
And, at the age of 41, Bolen has a criminal record he must carry with him the rest of his life.
And what was Bolen's crime?
He failed to put in place the management controls and company policies that might have prevented on employee from dumping a visiting coach's lav tank into a storm sewer when it proved incompatible with New World's waste recovery system. Bolen had verbally warned his employees against such an act. He wasn't there when it was done and he hadn't approved it. The judge acknowledged that probation was imposed instead of jail time, in part, because Bolen's was a crime of negligence rather than one of intent. But she said far more.

Repeaters will not fare well
U.S. District Court Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said she was "impressed" with the news coverage that Bolen's case was afforded by motorcoach industry publications, and she was convinced that Dave Bolen's willingness to share his story with others would help them avoid similar crimes. Bolen was so diligent about telling his story - hundreds of motorcoach operators have heard it in person or read about it -- that his probation was reduced to one year.
Judge Brinkema made it clear that the federal government is serious about stopping environmental crimes by operators in their handling of motorcoach wastes. By that, she meant not only lav wastes but also oil, antifreeze, cleaning fluids and a host of other substances.
She reminded those attending Bolen's sentencing that he was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor; and that if the government had pursued prosecution at the maximum allowable levels, his sentence could have been a very long stay in jail. There was a very direct inference that the next coach company found guilty of environmental crimes would not have the "get out of jail" card available. In fact, she suggested someone would pay a very heavy price, indeed.

Justice in the lesson
If there's only one card for the entire coach industry, we don't know of anyone who begrudges Bolen for using it. There are a lot of good operators in this industry. There are many innovators. You can still find plenty of operators who will get out of bed at 3 a.m. to help a stranger in distress or who will volunteer their time to teach colleagues - even their competitors - how to improve their company. And there are some, like Bolen, who will work hard to keep others out of trouble even while weathering enormous personal and business challenges. He earned the right to use the card.
It's easy to be angry about Bolen's case. It should not, however, be filed away under the heading of "bad things happen to good people." It's also fruitless to try to compare it with the stories you read about massive industrial and governmental polluters who seem to get nothing more than a slap on the wrist and a pink slip from the EPA that reads: "Please don't do that again." If you discount Bolen's case as justice gone awry, you only devalue the pain that's already been forfeited and you miss the point.
So, what's the point?
Somewhere in America right now, a well-meaning driver could be pulling the handle on the lav tank of your coach over a ditch along a country road. That driver could even be well meaning, and he could be working for a trusting, nice-guy manager who has issued verbal warnings to his staff about illegal dumping. But that driver may not know that the motorcoach industry's one-and-old "get out of jail" card has been used. He may not realize that both you and he could spend real time in real prison. He could, in fact, be determining your future.
It's up to you to make sure that driver knows. It's (past) time for even nice guys to "put it in writing," and have every employee who could dump anything acknowledge they have been warned.
We were, of course, reminded of the Dave Bolen saga by the story on page XXX. As Dave told us the other day, "I don't want to see anybody go through this."
Neither do we.