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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