Michael A Haber PA Criminal DUI Defense Litigation Miami Blog

Woman whose Facebook profile was "stolen" by the DEA for use in a drug sting gets $134,000.00 settlement from US government

Meet Sondra Arquiett, an upstate NY woman who was arrested by the DEA in 2010 for her role in a drug case.  

At the time of her 2010 arrest Sondra's cell phone was impounded by the feds and, on their own initiative, the DEA sifted through it and used photos and data derived thereto from to create a new, and bogus, Facebook account with the intent of tricking Sondra's friends and "associates" into revealing "incriminating drug secrets".  Because the DEA's faux page (pictured below) contained photos of Sondra, including some with her young son and niece, in 2013 Sondra filed a lawsuit against the DEA agent who created the page claiming that her privacy rights had been violated.  In her lawsuit Sondra claimed that she suffered fear and emotional distress and was put in danger because the fake Facebook page gave the general impression that she was cooperating with a federal investigation. She accused the DEA agent who set up the page of maintaining the account for at least three (3) months and of using it to "initiate contact with dangerous individuals [that] he was investigating," all while outwardly and publicly pretending to be her.

Under the 4th Amendment and federal (US) law, absent exceptional circumstances the government is not permitted to search your cellphone (or other property) without either a warrant or your consent. In this case, naturally the DEA was very clear - adamant in fact - that it was admitting no wrongdoing whatsoever by way of its mediated settlement with Sondra.  Although it agreed to pay out the $134k the DEA insists that Sondra had "implicitly consented by granting access to to the information stored in her cell phone and by consenting to the use of that information to aid in ... on going criminal investigations".  Sondra doesn't necessarily agree with this statement, but she did agree to the settlement, and therefore the DEA's position is that it reached "a fair outcome" after mediating the issue has effectively been stipulated to by Sondra.  

That is the question.  And, as this matter was resolved by way of mediation it remains unanswered by the Courts.  What the DEA did to Sondra pales in comparison to many of the tactics that it - the government (be it state or federal) - exercises in its everyday operations.  Things such as paid informants (i.e. folks who earn a veritable commission for brokering drug transactions), coercion (i.e. take the rap or we take your family and shelter your kids in foster care... this happens with great regularity in "grow house" cases in South Florida) and threats (i.e. tell me X or I'll do Y) are rampant.  Worse yet they are almost impossible to prove as it always boils down to the cops word against that of the accused.  

For more than 23 years Michael A. Haber, P.A. has been providing creative, effective and zealous advocacy and counsel in cases ranging from DUI to drug trafficking and from misdemeanors to first degree murder.  

At Michael A. Haber, P.A. "Its all about reasonable doubt"!