BurtW arrested (update: charges dropped!)

[jonald_fyookball]

Brian Klein
Baker Marquart LLP
10990 Wilshire Boulevard, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90024
Phone: (424) 652-7814
Email: bklein@bakermarquart.com

Oh snap, isn't that the Oppenheimer tower across from the federal building? Good to know there's someone who knows their shit when it comes to Bitcoin. It's good to see you back again, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that whole mess.

They're also the firm that tried to threaten me into censoring anti-Josh-Garza topics on this forum...

Interesting.  On what grounds did they claim?

[1715405116]

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[1715405116]

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[Beliathon]

Welcome back, Burt! I'm glad to hear the Man decided not to put you in his barbaric Dungeon of Suffering.

[Michail1]

Glad it's almost over.

[Kprawn]

Hey BurtW welcome back... Hope everything is sorted out now.. and the status quo can continue as before. 

This whole witch hunt and making scapegoats of people is just absurd. The thing is... if you innocent, nobody should be able to hurt you.. The problem with that is.. Lady Justice is broken.

I hope it was not too stressfull for you and your family. 

[illodin]

i doubt the government will return assets they seized .. they are probably holding the bitcoins 'in rem'

Were his Bitcoins taken? Was he somehow forced to reveal passwords?

Did they prohibit you from discussing the methods of confiscation?

[TheButterZone]

i doubt the government will return assets they seized .. they are probably holding the bitcoins 'in rem'

Were his Bitcoins taken? Was he somehow forced to reveal passwords?

Did they prohibit you from discussing the methods of confiscation?

I wouldn't be surprised if that was in the restricted documents at https://ia902603.us.archive.org/19/items/gov.uscourts.cod.151411/gov.uscourts.cod.151411.docket.html

[jukeebox]

Congratulations on making it out with no criminal record/Welcome Back..

[erikalui]

The charges have been dropped? That's really a great news. Unfortunately, these cases do cause a lot of financial loss.

[NewLiberty]

Brian Klein
Baker Marquart LLP
10990 Wilshire Boulevard, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90024
Phone: (424) 652-7814
Email: bklein@bakermarquart.com

Oh snap, isn't that the Oppenheimer tower across from the federal building? Good to know there's someone who knows their shit when it comes to Bitcoin. It's good to see you back again, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that whole mess.

They're also the firm that tried to threaten me into censoring anti-Josh-Garza topics on this forum...

Lawyers are paid to be advocates.  Hired guns with a mercenary spirit.  Its rarely personal.
Looks like one they lost and one they won.

They failed to impinge your user's free speech.
They succeeded in keeping BurtW out of jail, and earned a dismissal.

[chopstick]

Glad they dropped those charges Burt..

Now they need to give your shit back, fucking thieves.

Not to mention drop all the charges against the other people they simultaneously raided like it's fucking Nazi Germany.

It's terrible that the only way you can beat such oppression is by dropping 100k on an amazing lawyer.

And still don't even have all your stuff back.

[BurtW]

i doubt the government will return assets they seized .. they are probably holding the bitcoins 'in rem'

Were his Bitcoins taken? Was he somehow forced to reveal passwords?

Did they prohibit you from discussing the methods of confiscation?

On the day I was arrested at my client's office in front of my client and all my co-workers they did not have to tell me why I was being arrested - sealed arrest warrant.
That same day they searched our house and did not have to tell us what they were looking for - sealed search warrant.
After being arrested in front of my client, which was a nice touch as they immediately terminated our contract, they took me to our house.  I was taken aback by the number of cars so I made a point of counting them, 22.
The neighbors who watch the whole thing but failed to take any video (darn) counted up to 35 agents involved in the search.
They were very thorough even searching the entire attic and crawl space, every book, etc.  It took my wife weeks to get the house put back together.  Imagine up to 35 people searching you house for hours, they had the manpower and time to search just about everywhere.
During the search they got into my safe containing all of my physical Bitcoins and other Bitcoin related stuff.
Since I was not doing anything wrong I never expected to be shaken down in this way.  
My security threat profile was common burglary and my main concern was making sure my wife would be able to sell the Bitcoins in the event of my death.  So, the the vast majority of my Bitcoins were kept in a Trezor Bitcoin safe with the seed words kept off-site.
After searching my house for many hours and not finding what they were looking for, but taking every computer and electronic memory device they could get their hands on, they phoned in a search warrant for my office, which was granted.
Upon searching my office they found my off-site paper backup of the seed words for the Trezor which were there with retrieval instruction in the case of my death.  They took all of our corporate computers and left.
The rest is, as they say, history.

Food for thought:  my attorney informed me that they can and sometime do put people in jail until they turn over a password.  So in reality your passwords are only as safe as your willingness to spend time in jail over them.  After spending 3 days and 2 nights in solitary confinement (in the SHU at the federal detention center) I can tell you that most people will crack in pretty short order.  It boring beyond comprehension.

Part of the total cost shown on my wife's web site ($284,373.00) was the cost of replacing all of the computers and cell phones we needed in order for our business to keep operating.  Of course once we get all the computers back we will then have more computers and phones than we know what to do with.  Anyone want to buy a used computer that was under government control for nine months?

[Seketsuna]

Legalized robbery. Sorry to hear about your troubles . At least you're not imprisoned.

[meono]

Seriously Burt, if i were you, i would start looking for another the country to move to. Canada? Europe? ...etc I'm sure your skill and work experience would allow you start fresh (after all you're starting fresh again after this right? )

This country has gone to dog shit. I would denounce citizenship after the new settlement.

When we go to war again in near future, we will lose that status of being number1 .

[BurtW]

Seriously Burt, if i were you, i would start looking for another the country to move to. Canada? Europe? ...etc I'm sure your skill and work experience would allow you start fresh (after all you're starting fresh again after this right? )

Every single person that is trading Bitcoins on Localbitcoins.com or any other publicly available site could be subject to exactly what happened to me.  All they have to do is declare what you are doing is a business and like magic they can do whatever they want.  

So all Bitcoiners would need to leave with me?

[Quickseller]

Food for thought:  my attorney informed me that they can and sometime do put people in jail until they turn over a password.  So in reality your passwords are only as safe as your willingness to spend time in jail over them.  After spending 3 days and 2 nights in solitary confinement (in the SHU at the federal detention center) I can tell you that most people will crack in pretty short order.  It boring beyond comprehension.

Why were you put in solitary confinement? It was previously speculated that they put you there in order to get you to give up your private keys, but if they found your trezor seed then that would probably not be the case.

I would also think that being forced to give up passwords/encryption private keys would be potentially forcing someone to give up their right to remain silent and provide potentially incriminating evidence against themselves.

[NewLiberty]

Of course once we get all the computers back we will then have more computers and phones than we know what to do with.  Anyone want to buy a used computer that was under government control for nine months?

Maybe offer it on a crowd funding site as a reward for donations to your legal fund to make you (closer to) whole after this tragedy?
Or something else that may attract some publicity.
Please consider doing something profound.  Your situation is rare.  Few people have undergone this torture and come out with so few wounds.

Forfeiture law is one of the most egregious legal disasters in the USA.  The property is considered criminal and people do not even need to be charged with a crime in order for the property to be seized.

This is one of the most corrupting influences on law enforcement.  Seized property goes to fund their department slush funds.  The law turns all law enforcement into a vast corrupt criminal conspiracy worth of RICO.  You are incredibly lucky.  These laws get people killed, they impoverish, they are a great blight on the USA and any other country that follows this evil path.

The worst part is that these laws are on the rise.  In most jurisdictions they are being expanded in order to be 'tough on crime', but what they do is turn those who are meant to be enforcing law into the worst criminals.

Whatever you decide, know that there are many that are grateful to you, for being strong during a horrible ordeal, and for setting a hopeful precedent that there are at least a few judges that aren't yet completely corrupted.
Thank you.

[TheButterZone]

Food for thought:  my attorney informed me that they can and sometime do put people in jail until they turn over a password.  So in reality your passwords are only as safe as your willingness to spend time in jail over them.  After spending 3 days and 2 nights in solitary confinement (in the SHU at the federal detention center) I can tell you that most people will crack in pretty short order.  It boring beyond comprehension.

Why were you put in solitary confinement? It was previously speculated that they put you there in order to get you to give up your private keys, but if they found your trezor seed then that would probably not be the case.

I would also think that being forced to give up passwords/encryption private keys would be potentially forcing someone to give up their right to remain silent and provide potentially incriminating evidence against themselves.

The fundamental human rights enumerated in the US Constitution are "just words on paper" for the government to wipe its ass with.

[Carlton Banks]

Food for thought:  my attorney informed me that they can and sometime do put people in jail until they turn over a password.  So in reality your passwords are only as safe as your willingness to spend time in jail over them.  After spending 3 days and 2 nights in solitary confinement (in the SHU at the federal detention center) I can tell you that most people will crack in pretty short order.  It boring beyond comprehension.

Why were you put in solitary confinement? It was previously speculated that they put you there in order to get you to give up your private keys, but if they found your trezor seed then that would probably not be the case.

I would also think that being forced to give up passwords/encryption private keys would be potentially forcing someone to give up their right to remain silent and provide potentially incriminating evidence against themselves.

The fundamental human rights enumerated in the US Constitution are "just words on paper" for the government to wipe its ass with.

I'm beginning to form a whole new attitude to this "rights" concept. It's a contradiction in terms, essentially. In order to secure these entitlements/expectations, you need also to grant the enforcers permission to violate the underlying principles. This is very easy to subvert from protection into oppression. And it's not possible to use ordinances backed with force to enforce morality, it simply pushes the delinquents to innovate anti-social behaviour for which there are no current rules. The primary entity that can grant you rights is: yourself. You can only carve your entitlements out of the opportunities you take.

[unamis76]

My security threat profile was common burglary and my main concern was making sure my wife would be able to sell the Bitcoins in the event of my death.  So, the the vast majority of my Bitcoins were kept in a Trezor Bitcoin safe with the seed words kept off-site.
After searching my house for many hours and not finding what they were looking for, but taking every computer and electronic memory device they could get their hands on, they phoned in a search warrant for my office, which was granted.
Upon searching my office they found my off-site paper backup of the seed words for the Trezor which were there with retrieval instruction in the case of my death.  They took all of our corporate computers and left.
The rest is, as they say, history.

Food for thought:  my attorney informed me that they can and sometime do put people in jail until they turn over a password.  So in reality your passwords are only as safe as your willingness to spend time in jail over them.  After spending 3 days and 2 nights in solitary confinement (in the SHU at the federal detention center) I can tell you that most people will crack in pretty short order.  It boring beyond comprehension.

Part of the total cost shown on my wife's web site ($284,373.00) was the cost of replacing all of the computers and cell phones we needed in order for our business to keep operating.  Of course once we get all the computers back we will then have more computers and phones than we know what to do with.  Anyone want to buy a used computer that was under government control for nine months?

Did they move your funds? If not, do you have another copy of the seed, or do you know it by heart to move the funds?

I seriously don't understand why they put you on solitary when they had nothing else to take away from you...

[BurtW]

Did they move your funds? If not, do you have another copy of the seed, or do you know it by heart to move the funds?

I seriously don't understand why they put you on solitary when they had nothing else to take away from you...

They moved the funds (twice for some reason).
There were several arrests made by the task force that weekend.
They did not want us to talk to each other so they issued an administrative separation order covering all the Bitcoiners arrested in the sweep.
At the detention center where I was held there are three huge separate jails, two general population jails and one SHU.
They had to assign each of us to a separate jail.
I was placed in the SHU on an administrative separation (as opposed to a punitive separation).
So, unless they were picking on me specifically, I just got the short straw when the guards selected which jail to assign us to.

Here is a picture of the center, check it out:

Federal Correctional Institution Englewood  

I was in my cell 23 hours a day and got one hour a day out in the slightly larger cage shown here:

Outdoor exersise area of the SHU