We finally got the NCIC logs from the City of South Miami! Also, the Miami New Times gives us a mention...

A few weeks back we discussed the possibility of members of law enforcement abusing the federal NCIC (National Crime Information Center) database in order to find information on people that they had non business investigating.  Specifically we wondered if embattled City of South Miami police chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, had been abusing his access to the database to get the goods on his political foes.  I put in a public information request to the city requesting their NCIC request logs and after a few weeks, I finally go this...

  NCIC Request Sheets for the City of South Miami outlining illegal requests made by embattled police chief O... by The Straw Buyer

Interesting.  We're going to discuss this request log in detail tomorrow, in the mean time, take a good look at the people that the Chief himself requested information on, are any of our readers on that list?  There's a couple of surprises there and those particular requests clearly outline what kind of cop the chief is and just how he operates his department.

In the mean time, our friends over at the Miami New Times did a story on our involvement in the recent bank fraud case that we helped build with the feds, take a look.

THE HEAT and some pretty embarrassing stats for embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro

As much as I'd like to sit here and write about the goings on in local politics or the asshat that I helped get indicted yesterday, I'm too happy and way too tired to to so after last nights Heat victory!  So today we're going to have a first, a guest blogger whose given us a rather interesting perspective into the City of South Miami's chief of police, Orlando Martinez de Castro's performance over the last few years as chief.

How good a police chief is Orlando Martinez de Castro? You decide.

South Miami Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro’s contract states:

“The Parties agree that Opa Locka, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Homestead are comparable cities for the purpose of evaluating changes in crime statistics over time.”

The Chief chose these comparison cities himself, so let’s look at FDLE’s crime statistics for these cities and see how his performance has stacked up to his handpicked competition. Chief Martinez de Castro was re-hired as South Miami’s Chief in October 2010, so we’ll use 2010 as a baseline for comparison. Are we being fair so far?

Compared to the average changes for police departments in the Chief’s comparison cities, South Miami’s total crime changes rose 3%, burglaries rose 17%, and percent of crimes resolved by the SMPD (clearance rate) fell 17%. These numbers speak for themselves.

Beyond these dismal numbers, in the two and 2/3 years Mr. Martinez de Castro has been Chief in South Miami his department has failed to achieve state or national accreditation.

For this performance, the former city manager gave the chief $10,000 in merit raises while his rank and file got nothing, and the PBA gave Chief Martinez de Castro “leadership” awards two years in a row. For this same performance, the City Commission fired the manager and voted no confidence in the Chief, both by 3:2 votes.

Yikes!  Those are pretty damming numbers, aren't they?  With that said, thanks to our reader and guest blogger that compiled those stats for us.  Till next time, have a great weekend and GO HEAT!

Patience and perseverance pays off.

It took me nearly four years but I finally was able to nail one of my targets from back when I started this blog.  For those of you who aren't familiar with my story and how we got to where we are today, I'll fill you in.  Years ago, I had no interest in blogging or literally anything related to politics or the goings on over at the state attorneys office or the local PD, that was until a con man named Alex Orriols conducted a fraudulent real estate closing through my wife's law office.  At the time no one in my wife's office had any idea that the closing was bogus, about a year later, the man that had purchased the home in question claimed that his identity was stolen and used to obtain a fraudulent mortgage to purchase the home.  With that revelation, the moron detective that was investigating the case, Jorge Baluja, and this asshat assistant state attorney, Bill Kostrzewski, bought the guys story hook, line and sinker and proceeded to arrest my wife along with the guy who sold the house in question.  I couldn't understand how they went ahead and arrested my wife at the time despite obvious evidence that the man who claimed his identity was stolen was clearly lying and was involved in the fraud.

Regardless, it took two years for my wife to get exonerated and for the state attorneys office to drop all the charges against her.  Even though she was given an apology by the state attorney, it wasn't good enough for me.  I decided that no matter what, I wasn't going to rest until I exacted my revenge on the criminals that put my family through the two years of living hell that we experienced.  After four years or so, I finally nailed the man who recruited the straw buyer that was involved in my wife's case, Alex Orriols.  I originally wrote about him here, where I outlined how he had lied to a detective from the Miami Dade Police Department about one of the straw buyer transactions that he was involved with.  Despite the fact that I basically laid out his entire fraud in that post, I couldn't get a single person from the Miami Dade PD interested in reviewing the case, instead they just let the case sit dormant without lifting a finger.  

With that said, for the last four years, I kept hounding every single law enforcement officer that I could, whether they were from ICE, FBI, the US Marshals service or whatever till I found someone that was interested in taking the case.  Thanks to the hard work of the folks over at Homeland Security and a little help from a friend in the U.S. Marshals service, yesterday we got this...

News Releases
JUNE 19, 2013
4 arrested, charged in $1.5 million bank fraud, money laundering scheme 

MIAMI – Four individuals were arrested Tuesday and charged with various counts of bank fraud, money laundering and wire fraud. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud and the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Eduardo Hernandez Jr., 32, of Miami, Alexander Orriols, 43, of Miami Beach, Jose Arias, 50, of Miami, and Milena Hernandez, 30, of Miami, were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to the indictment, the defendants engaged in a bank fraud scheme using straw buyers as loan applicants to obtain loans using false financial information and documentation. To execute the scheme, the defendants allegedly recruited and persuaded individuals to apply for boat loans from companies owned or controlled by the defendants. They would then submit the loan applications to financial institutions. The applications included false information regarding down payments and deposits made to the defendants’ companies.
The defendants also allegedly falsified the straw buyers’ financial records, including IRS W-2 forms. They then submitted these false financial documents to financial institutions. Based on these false documents and misrepresentations, the financial institutions approved and issued loans to the straw buyers.
The indictment also alleges that the defendants paid the straw buyers a portion of the loan proceeds as payment for their service and to cover some of the monthly payments on the loans in order to keep the fraud from being detected. As a result, the defendants diverted the loan proceeds for their personal use and used some of the money to further the fraud scheme.
If convicted, the defendants face possible maximum statutory sentences of 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and substantive bank fraud; 20 years in prison for money laundering conspiracy, substantive money laundering and wire fraud; and 10 years in prison for substantive money laundering.

FUCK YES!  Just to make sure that I wasn't imagining things, I went over to the federal bureau of prisons website to check whether or not Mr. Orriols was in custody...

NICE!  I hate to gloat at another mans misfortune, but I hope that this mf rots in jail.  Like the title of today's post says, patience and perseverance finally pays off.  Despite not having written about the original cast of characters that were the genisis of this blog, I haven't forgotten about them and I wont till everyone of them is sitting behind bars contemplating how they got there, especially that fat fuck that fled to Panama after I outed him!

A meeting of the unethical over at the Miami Dade County Commission on Ethics...

We left off last time discussing the meeting we saw take place in the hallway just outside the Miami Dade County Commission on Ethics offices, take a look at that photo from last weeks post again...

We were able to identify most of the folks in the photo, all but this fellow here...

One of our readers identified this man as Michael Band an ex assistant state attorney that was so ethically and morally challenged that he had to resign in disgrace from his job as a division chief over at the state attorneys office!  Take a look at this excerpt from the lawsuit that resulted from his activities over at the sao...

This is an employment discrimination case, which has garnered significant media attention. Plaintiff was formerly employed as a secretary by the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office (hereinafter the "SAO"). In February of 1998, Plaintiff was suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into a highly publicized phone-sex scandal. The incident involved personnel from the Major Crimes Unit of the SAO and an incarcerated felon, who was to testify for the SAO in a murder prosecution.

This part is the best... 

During the investigation of the phone-sex scandal, Plaintiff alleged that she had been sexually harassed and assaulted by the chief of the Major Crimes Unit, Michael Band. Soon after these allegations became public, Band resigned from the SAO.

SWEET!  From what I've been able to find out about Mr. Band, he seems to be one of our state attorney's closest allies and has a history of representing her "friends & family".  Interesting.  I wonder what Mr. Band was doing over at the ethics commission?  Think about it for a moment, the ethics commission is run by a former prosecutor and close Katherine Ferndandez Rundle friend, Joe Centorino, then out in the hallway we have two ex prosecutors, Band and Steckel, representing Orlando Martinez de Castro who also claims to be a close family friend of our state attorney, Katherine Rundle.  At this point, am I the only one that gets an icky feeling about this whole interaction especially after we heard the deal that Mr. de Castro was given by the ethics commission?

Whatever.  The shit is so rigged it's not even funny, like our friend Al Crespo said, even if you were on drugs, you couldn't make this shit up.  This makes you really wonder about the full name of Joe Centorino's dog and pony show...

The Miami Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust

Public Trust?  LOL!

If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.

Yesterday we soldiered over to the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics for their monthly hearing where we expected to see the ethics case against embattled city of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro come to a conclusion.  As we had mentioned in yesterday's post, the good folks over at the Ethics Commission had cut a sweet heart deal with the chief and his attorneys where he essentially plead no contest and was given a small fine (which wasn't classified as a fine) and then sent on his way.

Unfortunately though not enough of the ethics commission board members showed up to form a quorum so the board couldn't vote on the plea deal, essentially it was a total waste of time for everyone that showed up.  With that said, I can't begin to describe how disappointed I am in how things have turned out over at the Commission on Ethics regarding this matter.  I personally met several times with investigators and the advocate, Michael Murawski, who theoretically is there to represent the people of Miami Dade County.  Generally, I think I'm pretty good at reading people and I have to tell you, Mr Murawski and his staff did one hell of a job bullshitting me about this case, they had me convinced that they were moving forward at all costs against the chief and that they had an open and shut case.  Unfortunately though, I was wrong, the fix was in long ago in this case, Mr Murawski and company were doing nothing but what they've been accused of time and time again, simply giving free passes to the politically connected here in Miami Dade County.

Go back and listen to Mr Murawski in the recording we posted yesterday where he vehemently states that he had a strong enough case where if he went forward, he was certain he was going to prevail.  With that said, he then goes on to say that it was in the public's interest to go ahead and cut a deal with a man who he knew was guilty of the ethics violations that were filed against him.  I ask you this, if we're talking about the public's interest to cut a deal with this character and let him off the hook, how the hell did it take nearly a year and a half to come to this conclusion?  Was it in the public's interest for the ethics commission to spin it's wheels for the past year and half?  Just how much did it cost the tax payers before you came to this conclusion Mr. Murawski?  The fine, I'm sorry, investigative costs that you billed Mr de Castro for, just how many hours of your "investigation" does that actually cover?

It's all bullshit folks, the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics is nothing more than a dog and pony show, a sham, a total waste of money.  

As frustrating as the whole experience was, I emerged from the aborted meeting in a funk and a cloud of confusion, that is until I made it out to the hallway outside the ethics commission's offices where at the other end of the hallway just out of earshot I found this scene...

Granted, that's a pretty shitting photo that's been cropped but what you see there is a meeting between Mr Murawski, Orlando Martinez de Castro and his attorneys and way in the back you can see possibly one of the worst former police chiefs in the history of the City of Miami, Kenneth Harms.  This scene made me as well as everyone else who saw it extremely uncomfortable.  What we see here is the advocate for the people of Miami Dade County, Murawski, cavorting with the very people he was supposedly fighting against on our behalf.  While it's technically not a violation of the state's sunshine laws, this meeting gave off an air of impropriety and definitely erased any veneer of impartiality that these ethics proceedings may have had.

With that said, our friend and fellow blogger, Al Crespo, came to the rescue and decided to confront Mr Murawski and crew, I managed to capture a shitty video of the entire interaction...



In case you couldn't make out the audio, here's how it went down...

Al Crespo: We figured we'd stand in and listen to the conversation, you got a public hallway, you got a public official here...

Murawski: Well we'll go someplace that's not public.

Al Crespo: Oh ok!

Unknown: Thank you for giving us this opportunity.

Emaciated looking old man under his breath: Straw buyer

Al Crespo: Always good to see transparency in government!

SWEET!  There you have it!  We no longer have to imagine how these backdoor deals go down, now you see it right before your eyes!  A perfect example of how things are done here in Miami Dade County, of all places at the Ethics Commission no less, which brings us to the title of today's post, a quote from former supreme court justice Louis Brandeis...

If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.

As soon as the sunlight hit the characters in the hallway, they scurried away like rats!  

Fuck it, just another day in Miami!  Till next time...

Meanwhile at the Ethics Commission....

Last month the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission met to discuss a possible plea deal for embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro in the ethics case that was filed as a result of his sending city business to his wife's tag agency.  We've had an audio recording of what went on during that meeting but have been struggling for weeks to try to figure out how the hell to post it in such a way that you guys can listen to it.  With that said, hopefully this link will let you listen in on what went on at the last ethics commission meeting...

The man you hear speaking on behalf of the citizens of Miami Dade County is Michael Murawski who is the staff attorney over at the commission who is responsible for handling the case against Mr de Castro.  The recording speaks for itself, according to Mr Murawski the South Miami cops are protecting their chief and refuse to testify against him and aside from paying some fines that the ethics commission have reclassified as "investigative costs", the chief is pleading "no contest" and being given a letter of instruction.  That was what was supposed to happen but then at the last minute the chief's criminal attorney, Simon Steckel, said that he had to talk to his client before he could accept the deal therefore delaying the plea till the next ethics commission meeting, which turns out to be today, June 13.  Hopefully we'll be able to get a recording of today's meeting, as soon as we get it we'll post it up.

The question that remains unanswered though is that if Mr. Murawski and his colleagues over at the ethics commission are so sure that they'd prevail if they went forward against the chief, then why the hell did they cut such a sweet deal and basically give him a slap on the wrist for what was an open and shut case?

Something to ponder...

Considering the 1984ish turn our society has taken lately, I think this quote I picked up from one of the internet forums I frequent is worth reading for those dolts among us that they don't mind big brother listening as they have nothing to hide and haven't done anything wrong...

"I live in a country generally assumed to be a dictatorship. One of the Arab spring countries. I have lived through curfews and have seen the outcomes of the sort of surveillance now being revealed in the US. People here talking about curfews aren't realizing what that actually FEELS like. It isn't about having to go inside, and the practicality of that. It's about creating the feeling that everyone, everything is watching. A few points:
1) the purpose of this surveillance from the governments point of view is to control enemies of the state. Not terrorists. People who are coalescing around ideas that would destabilize the status quo. These could be religious ideas. These could be groups like anon who are too good with tech for the governments liking. It makes it very easy to know who these people are. It also makes it very simple to control these people.
Lets say you are a college student and you get in with some people who want to stop farming practices that hurt animals. So you make a plan and go to protest these practices. You get there, and wow, the protest is huge. You never expected this, you were just goofing off. Well now everyone who was there is suspect. Even though you technically had the right to protest, you're now considered a dangerous person.
With this tech in place, the government doesn't have to put you in jail. They can do something more sinister. They can just email you a sexy picture you took with a girlfriend. Or they can email you a note saying that they can prove your dad is cheating on his taxes. Or they can threaten to get your dad fired. All you have to do, the email says, is help them catch your friends in the group. You have to report back every week, or you dad might lose his job. So you do. You turn in your friends and even though they try to keep meetings off grid, you're reporting on them to protect your dad.
2) Let's say number one goes on. The country is a weird place now. Really weird. Pretty soon, a movement springs up like occupy, except its bigger this time. People are really serious, and they are saying they want a government without this power. I guess people are realizing that it is a serious deal. You see on the news that tear gas was fired. Your friend calls you, frantic. They're shooting people. Oh my god. you never signed up for this. You say, fcuk it. My dad might lose his job but I won't be responsible for anyone dying. That's going too far. You refuse to report anymore. You just stop going to meetings. You stay at home, and try not to watch the news. Three days later, police come to your door and arrest you. They confiscate your computer and phones, and they beat you up a bit. No one can help you so they all just sit quietly. They know if they say anything they're next. This happened in the country I live in. It is not a joke.
3) Its hard to say how long you were in there. What you saw was horrible. Most of the time, you only heard screams. People begging to be killed. Noises you've never heard before. You, you were lucky. You got kicked every day when they threw your moldy food at you, but no one shocked you. No one used sexual violence on you, at least that you remember. There were some times they gave you pills, and you can't say for sure what happened then. To be honest, sometimes the pills were the best part of your day, because at least then you didn't feel anything. You have scars on you from the way you were treated. You learn in prison that torture is now common. But everyone who uploads videos or pictures of this torture is labeled a leaker. Its considered a threat to national security. Pretty soon, a cut you got on your leg is looking really bad. You think it's infected. There were no doctors in prison, and it was so overcrowded, who knows what got in the cut. You go to the doctor, but he refuses to see you. He knows if he does the government can see the records that he treated you. Even you calling his office prompts a visit from the local police.
You decide to go home and see your parents. Maybe they can help. This leg is getting really bad. You get to their house. They aren't home. You can't reach them no matter how hard you try. A neighbor pulls you aside, and he quickly tells you they were arrested three weeks ago and haven't been seen since. You vaguely remember mentioning to them on the phone you were going to that protest. Even your little brother isn't there.
4) Is this even really happening? You look at the news. Sports scores. Celebrity news. It's like nothing is wrong. What the hell is going on? A stranger smirks at you reading the paper. You lose it. You shout at him "fcuk you dude what are you laughing at can't you see I've got a fcuking wound on my leg?"
"Sorry," he says. "I just didn't know anyone read the news anymore." There haven't been any real journalists for months. They're all in jail.
Everyone walking around is scared. They can't talk to anyone else because they don't know who is reporting for the government. Hell, at one time YOU were reporting for the government. Maybe they just want their kid to get through school. Maybe they want to keep their job. Maybe they're sick and want to be able to visit the doctor. It's always a simple reason. Good people always do bad things for simple reasons.
You want to protest. You want your family back. You need help for your leg. This is way beyond anything you ever wanted. It started because you just wanted to see fair treatment in farms. Now you're basically considered a terrorist, and everyone around you might be reporting on you. You definitely can't use a phone or email. You can't get a job. You can't even trust people face to face anymore. On every corner, there are people with guns. They are as scared as you are. They just don't want to lose their jobs. They don't want to be labeled as traitors.
This all happened in the country where I live.
You want to know why revolutions happen? Because little by little by little things get worse and worse. But this thing that is happening now is big. This is the key ingredient. This allows them to know everything they need to know to accomplish the above. The fact that they are doing it is proof that they are the sort of people who might use it in the way I described. In the country I live in, they also claimed it was for the safety of the people. Same in Soviet Russia. Same in East Germany. In fact, that is always the excuse that is used to surveil everyone. But it has never ONCE proven to be the reality.
Maybe Obama won't do it. Maybe the next guy won't, or the one after him. Maybe this story isn't about you. Maybe it happens 10 or 20 years from now, when a big war is happening, or after another big attack. Maybe it's about your daughter or your son. We just don't know yet. But what we do know is that right now, in this moment we have a choice. Are we okay with this, or not? Do we want this power to exist, or not?
You know for me, the reason I'm upset is that I grew up in school saying the pledge of allegiance. I was taught that the United States meant "liberty and justice for all." You get older, you learn that in this country we define that phrase based on the constitution. That's what tells us what liberty is and what justice is. Well, the government just violated that ideal. So if they aren't standing for liberty and justice anymore, what are they standing for? Safety?
Ask yourself a question. In the story I told above, does anyone sound safe?
I didn't make anything up. These things happened to people I know. We used to think it couldn't happen in America. But guess what? It's starting to happen.
I actually get really upset when people say "I don't have anything to hide. Let them read everything." People saying that have no idea what they are bringing down on their own heads. They are naive, and we need to listen to people in other countries who are clearly telling us that this is a horrible horrible sign and it is time to stand up and say no."

That's some heavy duty shit right there!  In other news, I'm told that embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro was given some sort of award by the PBA.  I'm going to get the details of this "award" and see what it's all about.

Meanwhile at embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro's deposition...

As we mentioned yesterday, embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro was supposed to be deposed by the defense attorneys representing the three tellers that were arrested as part of the Airways Auto Tag Agency case.  Everything was all set to go at 2:30 pm then at the last minute, Mr. Martinez de Castro through his attorney (I believe Simon Steckel), decided to cancel the deposition.

I don't get it, whether it's ducking depositions from the Ethics Commission or avoiding depositions in this criminal case where the chief and his wife allege that their employees stole tens of thousands of dollars from them, Mr. Martinez de Castro seems to do anything he can to avoid getting deposed.  I wonder why?  Does he have something to hide?  Is he scared of all those big bad lawyers?  Perhaps he's afraid of the questions they might ask him?  Who knows.  The next trial date for the Airways criminal case is just one month away, perhaps by the Martinez de Castro clan continually cancelling their depositions, maybe they think that they'll pressure the defendants into taking a plea?  Whatever.

Another interesting development is that the other Airways Auto Tag Agency employees that were scheduled to be deposed have all lawyered up.  How does that work?  Considering that these people survive on a meager income and theoretically have nothing to hide, how and why did they hire attorneys to represent them in a deposition?  

Whatever the case, things will definitely get interesting over the next few weeks.  Now on another note, here's another example of our constitutional rights getting trampled on again, in the fair state of New York, it's now a FELONY to annoy a police officer!  Check it for yourselves...

"A PERSON IS GUILTY OF AGGRAVATED HARASSMENT OF A POLICE OFFICER OR PEACE OFFICER WHEN, WITH THE INTENT TO HARASS, ANNOY, THREATEN OR ALARM"

Thank god we don't live in New York any more! 

Just when you think things can't get any worse! Also, embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro heads off to a deposition...

Bit by bit as more and more of our constitutional rights are eroded as each day passes, it never seems to amaze me just how far our government will go.  As if the justice department going after Google to get our user data wasn't enough, now somehow the British newspaper, The Guardian, obtained a top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all their customers cell phone data!  Check out the court order from the Guardian article...

  GoverORDER REQUIRING THE PRODUCTION OF TANGIBLE THINGS FROM VERIZON BUSINESS NETWORK SERVICES, 15-80 INC. ON BEHALF OF MCI COMMUNICATION SERVICES, INC. D/B/A VERIZON BUSINESS SERVICES.nment Order to Verizon

In other news, there's finally some movement in the Airways Auto Tag Agency criminal case.  We're told that the defense attorneys will be deposing City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro today.  Should be interesting, I'll update as soon as I have more information.

It's like deja-vu all over again...

It seemed like just another headline where prosecutors at the Justice Department were trying to obtain confidential information from Google regarding their users, that was till I read the article for a second time...

Take a look at the article for yourselves (link here), these quotes in particular stand out...

The Justice Department's lawsuit, filed April 22 and not disclosed until this article, was sparked by Google's decision to rebuff the FBI's legal demands for confidential user data. It centers on the bureau's controversial use of so-called National Security Letters (NSL), a secret electronic data-gathering technique that does not need a judge's approval and recently was declared unconstitutional in an unrelated court case.

This part is of particular interest to me...

The use of NSLs is controversial because they gag the recipient: If you receive one, it's illegal to tell anyone. They're only supposed to be used in national security investigations, not routine criminal probes, and there's no upper limit on the amount of data a single NSL can demand.

So once they send out one of these requests, the people that they send them to are prohibited from telling anyone about them!  Let's not forget, as we mentioned last week, asshat assistant state attorney William "Special K" Kostrzewski sent just such a subpoena to the company that hosts our domain name in order to find out our identity when we were blogging anonymously.  Once again, take a look at this email sent to me by the good folks over at GKG.net who host our domain name when I asked them to send me over a copy of the subpoena...

No shit!  The state attorneys office told them not to tell me anything about the subpoena!  WTF?!  Once again, from the justice department story...

The FBI has been abusing its power and the letters have sought information to which the FBI was not entitled. Without the gag orders issued on recipients of the letters, it is doubtful that the FBI would have been able to abuse the NSL power the way that it did. So the combination of free reign for FBI to write its own warrants without judicial review, combined with the never-ending gag orders are the ingredients of a perfect storm of abuse potential.

Much like the federal National Security Letters, the subpoena that Prosecutor Kostrzewski used to obtain my identity was done without judicial review as well.  

Google effectively put the FBI on notice on March 5 that it would only divulge what the law requires. In a statement on its Web site at the time, the company said that "the FBI can't use NSLs to obtain anything else from Google, such as Gmail content, search queries, YouTube videos, or user IP addresses."

Thank god for Google's stance against the government.  Essentially what the prosecutor who was trying to figure out my identity did was obtain my IP address from GKG.net then used that to figure out my identity, in my opinion both the subpoena he issued and the subsequent use of my IP address was all done illegally.  Once again from the article...

Another possibility, said EFF's Cohn, is that Google is "fighting to give notice" to their subscribers. That would mean arguing that the NSL gag orders are unconstitutional, which the Second Circuit Court of Appeals said was the case in a mixed ruling (PDF).

So there you have it, not only was the subpoena that the state attorneys office in our opinion, illegal, but the demand they made on the domain name host could have possibly been unconstitutional?!

It's disgusting but it's just another example of how those in law enforcement, whether it's a jerkoff cop (or police chief) abusing state and federal databases or an assclown prosecutor abusing his subpoena powers to uncover the identity of an anonymous blogger whose criticizing him online are violating our constitutional rights day in day out with relative impunity.

Now, if that shit wasn't enough, we've gotten back the results of a public information request over at the City of South Miami relating to the federal NCIC database.  You're never going to believe who our favorite chief has been busy looking up in his spare time!