BurtW arrested (update: charges dropped!)

[cr1776]

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/01/26/colorado-man-facing-5-years-jail-for-buying-and-selling-bitcoin-without-a-license/

Interesting.  The author stated he uses the name "BertW" though.  If something as simple as that gets through the editor, one wonders what other errors there are in there.

...but is an active participant on Bitcoin forums where he uses the name BertW; this is where the story gets interesting.

[zebedee]

OMG! BurtW was a great guy and very active here. I believe he mostly did cash transactions, I hope this isn't another one of those localbitcoins "stings".

A link to his profile here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=14808

We need to help him.

There is no helping him in the American "Justice" system.


~BCX~

Murica, fuck yeah!

[ChuckBuck]

Man, that sucks.  Seems like BurtW was a very good member of the Bitcoin community and this forum.

I don't understand how he was singled out by the Feds.  Either the transactions were for very large amounts, or he had ties to Silk Road possibly.

Either way, hope he has excellent legal representation and gets off scott free.

[Turbor]

I don't understand how he was singled out by the Feds.  Either the transactions were for very large amounts, or he had ties to Silk Road possibly.

There was a time Burt and some other guys made lots of coins with loans and other stuff. Looks like big brother now wants his share... The same could happen to others out there. Their names are known.

[Lauda]

I don't understand how he was singled out by the Feds.  Either the transactions were for very large amounts, or he had ties to Silk Road possibly.

There was a time Burt and some other guys made lots of coins with loans and other stuff. Looks like big brother now wants his share... The same could happen to others out there. Their names are known.

The forum definitely needs a 'delete all posts' button for an account though. You never know who might be the next target.

[Blazr]

I don't understand how he was singled out by the Feds.  Either the transactions were for very large amounts, or he had ties to Silk Road possibly.

There was a time Burt and some other guys made lots of coins with loans and other stuff. Looks like big brother now wants his share... The same could happen to others out there. Their names are known.

The forum definitely needs a 'delete all posts' button for an account though. You never know who might be the next target.

That won't save you. There are plenty of copies of forums posts across the internet and theymos + others have plenty of db backups, and as we seen with Ross Ulbricht, they can be subpoena'd to hand over data from those backups.

[QuestionAuthority]

I don't understand how he was singled out by the Feds.  Either the transactions were for very large amounts, or he had ties to Silk Road possibly.

There was a time Burt and some other guys made lots of coins with loans and other stuff. Looks like big brother now wants his share... The same could happen to others out there. Their names are known.

The forum definitely needs a 'delete all posts' button for an account though. You never know who might be the next target.

That won't save you. There are plenty of copies of forums posts across the internet and theymos + others have plenty of db backups, and as we seen with Ross Ulbricht, they can be subpoena'd to hand over data from those backups.

That's pointless anyway. If you're doing something illegal and you get caught it's most likely not because you posted about it. It's because you were doing something illegal and were caught doing it. They may use your posts to back up their case but that's just a sidebar to getting caught. The moral of the story is to stop breaking the fucking law. If you can't make yourself stop breaking the law where you are then move to someplace where the laws are different. I feel sorry for his kid (I'm assuming that's his daughter in the photo). How awful to have one of your parents in jail. What could she possibly say to her friends at school when she's asked, where's your dad? Very sad.

[Blazr]

I don't understand how he was singled out by the Feds.  Either the transactions were for very large amounts, or he had ties to Silk Road possibly.

There was a time Burt and some other guys made lots of coins with loans and other stuff. Looks like big brother now wants his share... The same could happen to others out there. Their names are known.

The forum definitely needs a 'delete all posts' button for an account though. You never know who might be the next target.

That won't save you. There are plenty of copies of forums posts across the internet and theymos + others have plenty of db backups, and as we seen with Ross Ulbricht, they can be subpoena'd to hand over data from those backups.

That's pointless anyway. If you're doing something illegal and you get caught it's most likely not because you posted about it. It's because you were doing something illegal and were caught doing it. They may use your posts to back up their case but that's just a sidebar to getting caught. The moral of the story is to stop breaking the fucking law. If you can't make yourself stop breaking the law where you are then move to someplace where the laws are different. I feel sorry for his kid (I'm assuming that's his daughter in the photo). How awful to have one of your parents in jail. What could she possibly say to her friends at school when she's asked, where's your dad? Very sad.

Problem is the law can be interpreted in many ways, it isn't black or white nor does it usually coincide with morality. I don't think Burt knowingly did anything morally wrong, though I don't know the full story yet, so far we've only heard half of the prosecutors side of the story and nothing from Burt's.

[OgNasty]

I would like to hear BurtW's side of the story.  He hasn't logged in for a month so I can only assume that he has not been bailed out.  Has anyone found out if bail has been set, and if so what the amount is?

[Lauda]

That's pointless anyway. If you're doing something illegal and you get caught it's most likely not because you posted about it. It's because you were doing something illegal and were caught doing it. They may use your posts to back up their case but that's just a sidebar to getting caught. The moral of the story is to stop breaking the fucking law. If you can't make yourself stop breaking the law where you are then move to someplace where the laws are different. I feel sorry for his kid (I'm assuming that's his daughter in the photo). How awful to have one of your parents in jail. What could she possibly say to her friends at school when she's asked, where's your dad? Very sad.

Problem is the law can be interpreted in many ways, it isn't black or white nor does it usually coincide with morality. I don't think Burt knowingly did anything morally wrong, though I don't know the full story yet, so far we've only heard half of the prosecutors side of the story and nothing from Burt's.

Exactly.With the information handed over, a person could be potentially identified. I also think that Burt didn't even realize that he was doing something wrong, and yet he could get a 5 year sentence.
This is what I'm talking about.

[Quickseller]

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/01/26/colorado-man-facing-5-years-jail-for-buying-and-selling-bitcoin-without-a-license/

according to his website that is linked to this article they arrested him in his home, 35 federal agents searched his house, seized an unspecific amount of money, and seized their computers.

I am curious to see the search/arrest warrants for him and what they claim exactly he was doing. This sounds like a pretty big response to just selling Bitcoin to a police officer who said they were going to use the money to buy drugs.

[Blazr]

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/01/26/colorado-man-facing-5-years-jail-for-buying-and-selling-bitcoin-without-a-license/

according to his website that is linked to this article they arrested him in his home, 35 federal agents searched his house, seized an unspecific amount of money, and seized their computers.

I am curious to see the search/arrest warrants for him and what they claim exactly he was doing. This sounds like a pretty big response to just selling Bitcoin to a police officer who said they were going to use the money to buy drugs.

Damn, 35 agents is a lot! but they do usually send excessive numbers for an arrest, usually 9 or 10. I guess they needed 25 extra forensics guys to deal with the computer media!

[Quickseller]

... to just selling Bitcoin to a police officer who said they were going to use the money to buy drugs.

Please don't invent lies. Do you have information or are you starting some kind of smear campaign against him?

It was speculated numerous times that he sold Bitcoin to an undercover agent who said that the proceeds would be used in some illegal activity (buying drugs is a common illegal activity that Bitcoin is used for).

I was asking to see that warrant to get more detailed information as to what he was accused of doing.

[The Avenger]

When klee got 1700btc stolen, BurtW seemed pretty cool with the idea of money laundering and didn't seem to think trading in stolen bitcoins or money laundering was any big deal. We had a discussion in that thread. I think his bitcoin ideology might have started to cloud his good judgement. It's all fun and games in bitcoinland, until the real world catches up. It's sad he's been arrested. But it's a wake up call that sometimes people need to check their online ideology against the real world and real world consequences.

[neurotypical]

So I guess to buy some satoshis off a local fellow off LocalBitcoin in person you need to first hop over SR and buy some military grade bulletproof vests lol.

[leopard2]

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/01/26/colorado-man-facing-5-years-jail-for-buying-and-selling-bitcoin-without-a-license/

according to his website that is linked to this article they arrested him in his home, 35 federal agents searched his house, seized an unspecific amount of money, and seized their computers.

I am curious to see the search/arrest warrants for him and what they claim exactly he was doing. This sounds like a pretty big response to just selling Bitcoin to a police officer who said they were going to use the money to buy drugs.

Damn, 35 agents is a lot! but they do usually send excessive numbers for an arrest, usually 9 or 10. I guess they needed 25 extra forensics guys to deal with the computer media!

A ridiculous number? Yes and no. That is what its all about, keeping large numbers of people happily employed and well paid: an overstaffed organization. High taxes, almost no checks and balances and a gigantic number of arbitrary laws make it possible.

http://www.burtw.com/home.html

  A mixture between Stalinism and Gotham City, if you ask me, the grotesque exaggeration of it will hopefully gather the attention of the court.

Of course there is  a difference between what the feds want and what they get; so far this is only allegations.

Now the really good question is, what would have happened if the agents would not have suggested that they use funds associated with criminal activity? That is the definition of money laundering and pretty much illegal anywhere on the planet.

The fascism starts where private individuals are banned from trading goods and services: “The federal prosecutor believes a person must have a money transmittal license to buy and sell Bitcoins for individual investment.”

[ajaxmoor]

Has there been an update about his situation ? Is someone following his case ?

[wunkbone]

Has there been an update about his situation ? Is someone following his case ?

There is probably more information about his case, however it is a federal case, and federal cases use the pacer system which costs money (several cents per search/page). So far no one has volunteered to pay for such information and publish it

[mayax]

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/01/26/colorado-man-facing-5-years-jail-for-buying-and-selling-bitcoin-without-a-license/

according to his website that is linked to this article they arrested him in his home, 35 federal agents searched his house, seized an unspecific amount of money, and seized their computers.

I am curious to see the search/arrest warrants for him and what they claim exactly he was doing. This sounds like a pretty big response to just selling Bitcoin to a police officer who said they were going to use the money to buy drugs.

Damn, 35 agents is a lot! but they do usually send excessive numbers for an arrest, usually 9 or 10. I guess they needed 25 extra forensics guys to deal with the computer media!

A ridiculous number? Yes and no. That is what its all about, keeping large numbers of people happily employed and well paid: an overstaffed criminal organization. High taxes, almost no checks and balances and a gigantic number of arbitrary laws make it possible.

http://www.burtw.com/home.html

  A mixture between Stalinism and Gotham City, if you ask me, the grotesque exaggeration of it will hopefully gather the attention of the court.

Of course there is  a difference between what the feds want and what they get; so far this is only allegations.

Now the really good question is, what would have happened if the agents would not have suggested that they use funds associated with criminal activity? That is the definition of money laundering and pretty much illegal anywhere on the planet.

The fascism starts where private individuals are banned from trading goods and services: “The federal prosecutor believes a person must have a money transmittal license to buy and sell Bitcoins for individual investment.”

federal prosecutor has right. it's written on the FINCEN law this thing....

a person that creates units of convertible virtual currency and sells those units to another person for real currency or its equivalent is engaged in transmission to another location and is a money transmitter. In addition, a person is an exchanger and a money transmitter if the person accepts such de-centralized convertible virtual currency from one person and transmits it to another person as part of the acceptance and transfer of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency."

[TheButterZone]

He's out on bail and surrendered his passport. The latest motion of any consequence:
A 10-Day Jury Trial set for 5/4/2015 08:00 AM in Courtroom A 801 before Judge William J. Martinez