8 ms·

Deputy US Marshal pleads guilty to obtaining cell phone location unlawfully [pdf]

207 points by arkadiyt 3y ago

hanniabu 3y ago
> Pena pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining confidential phone records. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors He'll probably get 6 months probation
- gruez 3y ago
  >He'll probably get 6 months probation That's the standard for most first time, non-violent offenses.
  - KirillPanov 3y ago
    Like selling drugs or "money laundering"? I don't think so.
    - pclmulqdq 3y ago
      I mean, there are lots of worse penalties for things related to organized crime. Things like minor fraud or burglary are often also in the probation bucket.
      - devilbunny 3y ago
        Minor fraud and burglary generally don't generate a federal prosecution. Doing what would otherwise be a fairly minor crime under the color of law should generate a hefty bench-slap (as the lawyers like to say).
  - public_defender 3y ago
    > That's the standard for most first time, non-violent offenses In what country?
    - gruez 3y ago
      US, as per federal sentencing guidelines[1]: * baseline offense level of 9 [2] * -2 adjustment for acceptance of responsibility[3] * That gets you an offense level of 7, which puts him in the 0-6 months band[4], making him eligible for probation[5]. IANAL but all of this is for offenses that make it to trial. If there's plea bargaining involved the sentences are probably even lighter. [1] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annotated https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annot... [2] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annotated-2021-chapter-2-e-k#2h31 https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annot... [3] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annotated-2021-chapter-3#3e11 https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annot... [4] https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2021/Sentencing_Table.pdf https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manu... [5] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annotated-2021-chapter-5#5b11 https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annot...
      - public_defender 3y ago
        This seems correct regarding this person and this conduct, but I disagree that this type of penalty is "the standard for most first time, non-violent offenses." Federal cases are a small percentage of total criminal prosecutions, and penalties vary widely across the country.
        I_am_uncreative 3y ago
        Most first time, non-violent federal offenses, then?
monero-xmr 3y ago
It sounds like this was a piece of software where you uploaded a PDF of “proof” that you had the authority to track anyone in America, and then it let you. And someone finally bothered to look at the proof and it was a blank page. This is why I’m against giving the government the power to intercept communications or middle-man encryption. They always pitch it like “This power will be protected by courts and warrants and Fort Knox level security!!” and then it’s a checkbox that any bureaucrat can use to violate civil liberties en masse.
- bjornsing 3y ago
  Yea I sometimes get a feeling that a large portion of the population just doesn’t understand conditionals. If you tell them “you have the authority to do X if Y”, they just ignore the Y part.
  - matheusmoreira 3y ago
    People who are drunk on power subscribe to the "ask for forgiveness, not permission" philosophy. They think everything they do is right and just. They cannot understand or even believe people would not trust them and see the conditional as a pointless hindrance, bureaucratic red tape meant to stifle upstanding people like them.
    - vjk800 3y ago
      Also, the system doesn't really penalize this philosophy. Try to do everything by the book and you find that you can't really get anything done. Cut some corners, you get shit done and, in the worst case, you get a mild slap on the wrist several years later.
      - tourmalinetaco 3y ago
        And completely break down some walls, injuring others in the process? Get a promotion, and if caught just move somewhere else to do the same thing over again.
    - 3y ago
runlevel1 3y ago
And he got his access from the infamous Uvalde County Sheriff's Office where he was assigned to the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. Indictment here: https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/07/14/pena_indictment_0.pdf https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/0...
runlevel1 3y ago
It's disturbing how much this information is sold and resold: * Securus purchased the location data from 3Cinteractive Corporation, which was located in Boca Raton, Florida. * 3Cinteractive Corporation, in turn, purchased such data from Technocom Corporation (doing business as LocationSmart), which was located in Carlsbad, California. * Technocom Corporation (doing business as LocationSmart) purchased this data directly from telecommunications services providers. * This capability enabled Securus’s registered users to obtain the location data entered in the LBS platform, or, in other words, to ascertain the approximate physical location of a particular cellular telephone on demand. Source: https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/07/14/pena_indictment_0.pdf https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/0...
- ransackdev 3y ago
  I’ve been asking where the hell these companies are getting our data to begin with for awhile because it has to be through shady means, even if technically legal. Tracking a user and selling that data should not be able to be slapped deep down in some TOS that grants intrusion into your life at that level. I wish laws would be changed to require explicit tracking requests for this type of data, that has to be conspicuous and separately authorized in addiction to any TOS. I wonder if these are all shell companies to hide the “origin server” for this CDN of unauthorized surveillance data. I’m also curious how many of these are just middle men that do nothing but markup and resell, vs how many of these companies do anything to enrich the data before flipping it. Wouldn’t it be funny if someone were to use these systems to get the location information for the executives at all of these companies, and it ended up online everywhere? I wonder if they would change their opinions on technical loopholes allowing the tracking of people without consent
  - ianlevesque 3y ago
    The answer is in the comment you replied to, "directly from telecommunications services providers".
    - ransackdev 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
jbmc 3y ago
A similar recent story: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article276848586.html https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-aler...
bettercallsalad 3y ago
But three letter agencies do it all the time without any warrants and when caught no repercussion either last I checked. Maybe the DOJ attorneys can get to those as well?
amateuring 3y ago
if you can spy without consequence on a sitting president, why not on your ex as well?
corn13read2 3y ago
The fact that this is possible at all should be shocking. Unfortunately it’s old hat and needs to be made illegal, it easily breaks the 4th amendment.
- chunk_waffle 3y ago
  I agree, why isn't a warrant required for such information in the first place?

207 points by arkadiyt 3y ago

> Pena pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining confidential phone records. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors He'll probably get 6 months probation

gruez 3y ago
>He'll probably get 6 months probation That's the standard for most first time, non-violent offenses.
- KirillPanov 3y ago
  Like selling drugs or "money laundering"? I don't think so.
  - pclmulqdq 3y ago
    I mean, there are lots of worse penalties for things related to organized crime. Things like minor fraud or burglary are often also in the probation bucket.
    - devilbunny 3y ago
      Minor fraud and burglary generally don't generate a federal prosecution. Doing what would otherwise be a fairly minor crime under the color of law should generate a hefty bench-slap (as the lawyers like to say).
- public_defender 3y ago
  > That's the standard for most first time, non-violent offenses In what country?
  - gruez 3y ago
    US, as per federal sentencing guidelines[1]: * baseline offense level of 9 [2] * -2 adjustment for acceptance of responsibility[3] * That gets you an offense level of 7, which puts him in the 0-6 months band[4], making him eligible for probation[5]. IANAL but all of this is for offenses that make it to trial. If there's plea bargaining involved the sentences are probably even lighter. [1] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annotated https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annot... [2] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annotated-2021-chapter-2-e-k#2h31 https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annot... [3] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annotated-2021-chapter-3#3e11 https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annot... [4] https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2021/Sentencing_Table.pdf https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manu... [5] https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annotated-2021-chapter-5#5b11 https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual/annot...
    - public_defender 3y ago
      This seems correct regarding this person and this conduct, but I disagree that this type of penalty is "the standard for most first time, non-violent offenses." Federal cases are a small percentage of total criminal prosecutions, and penalties vary widely across the country.
      - I_am_uncreative 3y ago
        Most first time, non-violent federal offenses, then?

monero-xmr 3y ago

It sounds like this was a piece of software where you uploaded a PDF of “proof” that you had the authority to track anyone in America, and then it let you. And someone finally bothered to look at the proof and it was a blank page. This is why I’m against giving the government the power to intercept communications or middle-man encryption. They always pitch it like “This power will be protected by courts and warrants and Fort Knox level security!!” and then it’s a checkbox that any bureaucrat can use to violate civil liberties en masse.

bjornsing 3y ago
Yea I sometimes get a feeling that a large portion of the population just doesn’t understand conditionals. If you tell them “you have the authority to do X if Y”, they just ignore the Y part.
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  People who are drunk on power subscribe to the "ask for forgiveness, not permission" philosophy. They think everything they do is right and just. They cannot understand or even believe people would not trust them and see the conditional as a pointless hindrance, bureaucratic red tape meant to stifle upstanding people like them.
  - vjk800 3y ago
    Also, the system doesn't really penalize this philosophy. Try to do everything by the book and you find that you can't really get anything done. Cut some corners, you get shit done and, in the worst case, you get a mild slap on the wrist several years later.
    - tourmalinetaco 3y ago
      And completely break down some walls, injuring others in the process? Get a promotion, and if caught just move somewhere else to do the same thing over again.
  - 3y ago

runlevel1 3y ago

And he got his access from the infamous Uvalde County Sheriff's Office where he was assigned to the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. Indictment here: https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/07/14/pena_indictment_0.pdf https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/0...

runlevel1 3y ago

It's disturbing how much this information is sold and resold: * Securus purchased the location data from 3Cinteractive Corporation, which was located in Boca Raton, Florida. * 3Cinteractive Corporation, in turn, purchased such data from Technocom Corporation (doing business as LocationSmart), which was located in Carlsbad, California. * Technocom Corporation (doing business as LocationSmart) purchased this data directly from telecommunications services providers. * This capability enabled Securus’s registered users to obtain the location data entered in the LBS platform, or, in other words, to ascertain the approximate physical location of a particular cellular telephone on demand. Source: https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/07/14/pena_indictment_0.pdf https://www.justice.gov/d9/press-releases/attachments/2022/0...

ransackdev 3y ago
I’ve been asking where the hell these companies are getting our data to begin with for awhile because it has to be through shady means, even if technically legal. Tracking a user and selling that data should not be able to be slapped deep down in some TOS that grants intrusion into your life at that level. I wish laws would be changed to require explicit tracking requests for this type of data, that has to be conspicuous and separately authorized in addiction to any TOS. I wonder if these are all shell companies to hide the “origin server” for this CDN of unauthorized surveillance data. I’m also curious how many of these are just middle men that do nothing but markup and resell, vs how many of these companies do anything to enrich the data before flipping it. Wouldn’t it be funny if someone were to use these systems to get the location information for the executives at all of these companies, and it ended up online everywhere? I wonder if they would change their opinions on technical loopholes allowing the tracking of people without consent
- ianlevesque 3y ago
  The answer is in the comment you replied to, "directly from telecommunications services providers".
  - ransackdev 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

jbmc 3y ago

A similar recent story: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article276848586.html https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-aler...

bettercallsalad 3y ago

But three letter agencies do it all the time without any warrants and when caught no repercussion either last I checked. Maybe the DOJ attorneys can get to those as well?

amateuring 3y ago

if you can spy without consequence on a sitting president, why not on your ex as well?

corn13read2 3y ago

The fact that this is possible at all should be shocking. Unfortunately it’s old hat and needs to be made illegal, it easily breaks the 4th amendment.

chunk_waffle 3y ago
I agree, why isn't a warrant required for such information in the first place?