IP: An (ex)hacker's experience being pursued by the Feds

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 11:42:33 -0500
> To: politech () politechbot com
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
>
> [To clarify my last post (http://www.politechbot.com/p-01921.html): In the 
> Jim Bell trial, Judge Tanner first sealed *everything* until the trial was 
> over, and also barred anyone from publishing the jury list until the trial 
> was over. After the verdict was in and the jury dismissed, the DOJ asked 
> for a partial seal of exhibits and transcripts in perpetuity, and Tanner 
> said he didn't have the authority. --Declan]
>
> *********
>
> Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 16:01:27 -0400
> To: declan () well com
> From: e cummings <bernies () netaxs com>
> Subject: Re: FC: Epilogue: U.S. v. Jim Bell trial in federal court in
>   Tacoma
>
> declan,
>
> i read your and others' accounts of jim bell's trial with a nauseating 
> feeling of deja vu.  as you know, about six years ago i was arrested on a 
> state misdemeanor charge of possessing a device that could be used for the 
> theft of telecommunications services.  after my arrest, i was questioned 
> by a special agent of the the u.s. secret service, who told me he didn't 
> feel my case warranted federal attention.  the next day however, when 
> local police and USSS agents searched my home and found information in my 
> files that made them nervous, the feds asked the local police to drop 
> their charge so the feds could take it over.
>
> what made the feds so nervous as to cause them to repeatedly describe me 
> as "dangerous" to local and federal judges?  information.  my personal 
> files contained printouts of the names, phone numbers and addresses of 
> secret service agents, all of which i compiled from public sources.  also 
> in my files were list of USSS radio frequencies and code names (again, all 
> compiled from public sources.)  what apparently upset them the most, 
> however, was surveillance photos of some of their undercover agents 
> (picking their noses) that i caused to be aired on an evening news 
> broadcast of the local philadelphia FOX-TV affiliate in a 1994 story about 
> hackers.
>
> as i was being driven to my federal arraignment, one of the USSS agents 
> whose photo was taken told me they "took a lot of heat" because of the 
> airing of those photos.  months later, while i was being held without bail 
> in a maximum-security federal prison, my federal prosecutor told my 
> attorney (who was previously her superior at the u.s. attorneys office) 
> that she was under "extraordinary pressure" from the u.s. secret service 
> to get a conviction in my case--even thought there was not even an 
> allegation of fraud or victims.
>
> to make a long story short, i spent 14 months in 5 different 
> maximum-security prisons for a victimless, drug-free crime at the urging 
> of the u.s. secret service, which repeated told judges they considered me 
> "dangerous."  the federal presentence investigation report stated that 
> USSS agents interviewed some 20 people across the country about me, and 
> under cross-examination the lead USSS agent in my case conceded that none 
> of them said i was capable of violence.  there were no firearms or 
> explosives found in my home (although a handful of books on the subject 
> were confiscated.)  that same federal report also concluded that "there 
> were no victims in the offense."
>
> apparently the u.s. secret service isn't the only federal law-enforcement 
> agent that considers anyone who keeps tabs on them "dangerous."  you can 
> bet jim bell won't be a free man for several years if federal agents have 
> any say in the matter.
>
> -ed cummings
> "CALEA's first casualty"
>
>
>
>
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