Michigan man facing prison for alleged Seinfeld-esque bottle deposit scheme

It didn't work for Kramer and Newman, and prosecutors say it also didn't work for a man found with 10,000 empty cans in the back of a rented Budget truck.

In Michigan, recyclers receive 10 cents for the bottles they return, a higher refund than in most states where it is 5 cents. Under Michigan's bottle deposit law, it is illegal to recycle bottles and cans purchased out of state, with the maximum sentence being five years in prison. Prosecutors say that this is exactly what Brian Everidge planned to do when he was pulled over about 40 miles away from Detroit in April for speeding. The trooper said he found more than 10,000 aluminum cans in the back of Everidge's truck, and Everidge told him they were from Kentucky and "his intent was to return them; he just didn't say where he was going to return them."

Everidge's attorney is arguing that his client was improperly charged, since the trooper "caught him too early," The Guardian reports. "He attempted to attempt to return the bottles." He is charged with one felony count of beverage return of non-refundable bottles, and faces up to five years in prison. Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning said if Everidge is found guilty, he doubts he'll be put in prison — it would cost the state $35,500 a year for him to be incarcerated. Had Everidge returned all of the bottles in Michigan, Henning estimates he would have pocketed about $1,000.

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