Feds Stole a Woman's Identity and Made a Fake Facebook Page for Her

[herding cats]

Search "Sondra Price" on Facebook and you'll find a profile for the woman shown above. From the information that's publicly displayed, you'll learn a few things about her: She went to Watertown High School, she drives a BMW, her nickname is "Sosa," and judging by one picture, she might have young children.

All of this is true—the children in the photo are her son and niece, it turns out—but she didn't create the Facebook page—a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent named Timothy Sinnigen did. Sondra Arniquett was arrested in 2010 for a minor role in a cocaine-dealing ring (she went by Sondra Prince at the time). Ultimately, she was sentenced to probation, BuzzFeed reports, and without her knowledge, Sinnigen used photos and information taken from her seized cell phone to set up the profile in hopes of luring in other offenders. Now, Arniquett is suing Sinnigen, and government attorneys are claiming that the identity theft was permissible. From BuzzFeed:

The DEA's actions might never have come to light if Arquiett, now 28, hadn't sued Sinnigen, accusing him in federal district court in Syracuse, New York, of violating her privacy and placing her in danger.

In a court filing, a U.S. attorney acknowledges that, unbeknownst to Arquiett, Sinnigen created the fake Facebook account, posed as her, posted photos, sent a friend request to a fugitive, accepted other friend requests, and used the account "for a legitimate law enforcement purpose."

The U.S. Attorney defending Sinnigen claims that the agent's actions were OK: while Arquiett did not give "express permission" for Sinnigen to use the photos, it is argued, she "implicitly consented by granting access to the information stored in her cell phone and by consenting to the use of that information to aid in an ongoing criminal investigations." To which Anita L. Allen, a University of Pennsylvania law professor interviewed by BuzzFeed, replied: "I may allow someone to come into my home and search, but that doesn't mean they can take the photos from my coffee table and post them online."

http://gawker.com/feds-stole-a-womans-identity-and-made-a-fake-facebook-p-1643348368

[Scuba]

1. Outragious.

[ellie]

2. That is insane.

[Rex]

3. Par the course.

http://www.dailytech.com/NSA+Chief+Built+Starship+Enterprise+Bridge+Sat+in+Captains+Chair+/article33383.htm
Our security groups are all run by moonbats.

Warp 10 on that feed!

[AngryAmish]

4. US Marshalls do this all the time to snare fugitives

[msanthrope]

6. Yes....and no doubt, a perusal of her plea agreement will reveal

she consented to help with ongoing investigations.

[freshwest]

5. FFS that federal agent needs to put the pipe down, living in his own little world playing cop.

[msanthrope]

7. It's more common than you think....It's a great way to catch pedos and

drug dealers. I've had clients caught this way.

[freshwest]

8. The ID theft, you mean? Our state did catch some killers by sending them bogus letters about winning

something for free. The people they the letters to licked the envelopes and the state took their DNA from that. It matched some who'd commited rape and murder years later. It takes an odd sort of person to do that work, anyway. But we do cheer when they take a pedo or rapist off the street fairly.

[msanthrope]

9. Well....it's not id theft. Nothing of value was taken, and I'm betting her

plea agreement obligates her cooperation in ongoing investigations. This is why I hate doing deals with the feds.