Shouldn't Quark be in jail already?

[urbandk]

I know he usually redeems himself or does some service to show he's not such a bad guy after all, but the fact remains that he perpetrates all kinds of criminal mischief up to and including endangering the entire station on multiple occasions. Shouldn't he be in jail or something?

 

[SharkD]

Yeah, this kind of disturbed me a little bit. He should have gone to prison at least once during the series' run. Whether he got out or not would still have been OK.

 

[Xerxes1979]

Well on several occasions Odo has been shown to be using Quark to expose larger criminal syndicates.

 

[happydave]

Well on several occasions Odo has been shown to be using Quark to expose larger criminal syndicates.

I'd pretty much agree to this.

Quark always seems to come across as a low-level thief, and most of the time Odo used this to his advantage. Sometimes Quark would also seem to give information instead of being put away. The Ascent is a good example of this where he gives testimony on the Orion Syndicate.

 

[RyuRoots]

Because he's useful. Quark gives Odo a crime-fighting edge for catching bigger fish, which makes him useful enough to keep around. Quark doesn't kill anyone, and while he smuggles stuff and scams people from time to time, he doesn't do anything bad enough to REALLY get him in hot water.

 

[Unimatrix 01]

My first reaction when I saw this threat was, "AMEN"! I love Quark, at times, but yeah, I'm pretty sure he should have been in jail a long time ago. But secretly I honestly believe Odo kept him out of serious trouble. Yeah, Odo wanted to catch Quark but I don't think he wanted to lock him up. Where's the fun in that. They both enjoyed the banter.

 

[Navaros]

Quark's been arrested and fined a few times in the series, hasn't he?

Plus his line to Kira in WYLB makes it seem like he's spent quite a bit of time in a holding cell, so much so that it doesn't bother him very much.

I do find it a bit of a stretch that he has breached station security numerous times, yet Odo has never shutdown his ability to do that.

 

[Unimatrix 01]

Quark's been arrested and fined a few times in the series, hasn't he?

Plus his line to Kira in WYLB makes it seem like he's spent quite a bit of time in a holding cell, so much so that it doesn't bother him very much.

I do find it a bit of a stretch that he has breached station security numerous times, yet Odo has never shutdown his ability to do that.

WYLB??

 

[happydave]

Quark's been arrested and fined a few times in the series, hasn't he?

Plus his line to Kira in WYLB makes it seem like he's spent quite a bit of time in a holding cell, so much so that it doesn't bother him very much.

I do find it a bit of a stretch that he has breached station security numerous times, yet Odo has never shutdown his ability to do that.

WYLB??

What You Leave Behind.

As in the DS9 finale.

 

[nx1701g]

You'll find a lot of abbreviations in Trek BBS.

BOBW - Best of Both Worlds
WOTW - Way of the Warrior
WYLB - What You Leave Behind

 

[tomalak301]

Yeah, this kind of disturbed me a little bit. He should have gone to prison at least once during the series' run. Whether he got out or not would still have been OK.

Didn't he go to Jail at the end of Little Green Men?

 

[Jono]

Today we have crime lords that everyone seems to know is a criminal but they manage to avoid gaol or at least very lengthy stays. Maybe Sisko asks Odo to overlook certain things with Quark to keep him there at the station.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^As Odo said to Quark in "Emmisary", "You have all the character references of a politician...."

 

[SHCone]

Sisko kept him around for station morale so that may be part of it. Quark was set to peace out in EMISSARY, But Sisko wanted a civilian bar there.

So Quark may have a minor "in" there since Sisko convinced him to stay in the first place. Combined with his sometimes-usefulness to Odo...

EMISSARY has my favorite Quark quote ever. "HAHAHAHAHAH- COMMUNITY LEADER!" Openly mocking Sisko's suggestion.

 

[SoM]

If they wanted either to be rid of Quark, or to jail him, they could just order him to pay his back rent (as they threatened a couple of times). He'd be bankrupt immediately (Or, even more so, they didn't need to help him get back on his feet after Body Parts. By that point, they could definitely have found someone else to run the bar.)

 

[Commander Rabbit]

I agree w/ those who wrote that Odo uses Quark to get at much bigger criminals. And I think each of them enjoys having the other around as a challenge. But it would've been very satisfying to see him get locked up at least once!

 

[Rush Limborg]

^He was--remember "The Maquis, Part II?"

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Quark certainly committed his biggest felony in "Invasive Procedures", when he helped a group of criminals (whose goal it was to effectively murder Jadzia) board the station.

He redeemed himself in that episode by helping to defeat the bad guys, but it didn't really become clear why this kept him from getting arrested in the end.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^Who says it did? Maybe he voluntarily served a...minor sentence to put all this behind them....

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

^Who says it did? Maybe he voluntarily served a...minor sentance to put all this behind them....

Maybe because it was neither mentioned nor depicted in that or any other episode?

And I'd wonder what minor of a sentence this must have been. He helped Verad & Co. taking control of the station and its crew by force. An act which almost lead to the death of a Starfleet officer (his attorney would probably try to argue: half a Starfleet officer). The fact that he changed his mind and helped to defeat Verad would have reduced his prison sentence from 6 years to 3 years or so, but this still doesn't explain why is walking around free the next episode.