Vodou Practitioner Gets Light Sentence

The Miami, Florida Herald reports that Myrlene Severe was sentenced in federal court today to two years probation and a $1000 fine for illegally storing human remains. The woman, a practitioner of Vodou, brought a skull, with strands of black curly hair, in her luggage on a flight back from Haiti. It was nestled in a cotton rice bag along with a banana leaf, dirt, small stones and a rusty iron nail. Severe believed that the skull would protect her. She did not know she was violating the law when she brought the skull in as a part of her religious beliefs. Originally more serious charges were filed against her, but they were subsequently reduced to a misdemeanor charge. (See prior posting).