Dr. Weiner is off the hook for the hookers.

You may recall that the Clarksdale physician was arrested by the FBI in May, charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution across state lines.

If you thought he was in trouble, hold on to your hat for the news that follows: the federal case against the doctor has been dismissed.

In Oxford, U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers, Jr. ruled the FBI did not have jurisdiction in the case.

News stories at the time reported that Dr. Weiner had used an online dating service to find female companions who are seeking wealthy men.  The FBI alleged he used the Web site to also find prostitutes.

Prostitution is a misdemeanor crime in Mississippi, but crimes committed across state lines often fall under federal laws. Hence the FBI, using an anti-prostitution law known as the Mann Act, attempted to convince the doctor to lure two FBI agents from Memphis to Coahoma County.

In his nine-page ruling, Judge Biggers found that the agents, in communications with Dr. Weiner, pushed and prodded the doctor for a meeting.

“The agents repeatedly played the roles of inducers in the present case,” Biggers wrote, citing conversations between the doctor and the FBI agents, “Wild Ginger” and “Mary.”  

“Dr. Weiner made unequivocal statements to the undercover agents…that he was not interested in a ‘hooker’ and was then informed and persuaded that the women were not hookers,” the judge explained.

The FBI agents couldn’t even plan an ambush right, court papers show. The federal judge noted that “Mary” fouled up the FBI bushwhack when she told Weiner she wanted to meet him while she was traveling through Clarksdale on her way to Alabama.

But that story messed up the jurisdictional argument. So she had to scrap that story and say she was traveling to Clarksdale only to see Weiner, a “special trip” – Judge Biggers’ words – that would fall under the Mann Act.

Biggers, in his ruling, pointed out that “Mary’s” second story also failed – she was already in Mississippi when she called to explain her new plans.

The judge likened the agents’ behavior to United States vs. Archer, which found that federal agents involved in a bribery case crossed state lines to make a telephone call solely to create a federal crime.

So here’s a layman’s summary of this case: a federal judge has ruled that the FBI, using the authority of an anti-prostitution law, tried to entrap a doctor who repeatedly told undercover agents he was not interested in prostitutes.

Speaking of the FBI and Memphis, I’m wondering if the federal agency ever broke the 2002 case of Katherine Smith.

She was the Tennessee license examiner who was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, when she accepted bribes to sell fake drivers licenses to Middle Eastern men from New York.

The men were indicted for the crime, but Smith never made it to court. She died in her car, in a fiery crash, the day before she was set to appear at a court hearing.

“Federal authorities have testified that the fire in the car was set,” The Commercial Appeal reported at the time.

But there’s nothing to see here, folks. There’s nothing to see. Just go watch “Survivor,” and let the FBI do its job.

I hear they’ve got a troubling situation in Texas, at Ft. Hood, that is commanding their attention. I just hope that they pounce quickly before something awful happens.