Much Ado About Cummins

GA reader

GA's noted the victory lap from our friends on The Dark Side following May 23rd's dismissal of charges against Hoboken IT official Johnathan Cummins.  Cummins was the assistant to convicted City Hall email hacker Patrick Ricciardi;  he'd initially confessed to the FBI- then retracted it later.

As reported in Patch:

All charges against Jonathan Cummins — the city's former IT official who was fired in May 2011 and accused of forwarding hacked emails to third parties — have been dismissed by Administrative Judge Evelyn Marose.

"She could not find him guilty," said Marcia Tapia, Cummins' attorney, in a phone interview on Thursday morning.

Marose ruled that Cummins is entitled to get his job as an agency aide back,  effective immediately, and that he will receive back pay for the two years he hasn't worked for the city as well as attorney fees, Tapia said.

The joyful bleatings following Cummins' dismissal have sounded like this: nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah with a dash of  f*ck you.  

Not so fast, my Dark Side friends. 

Before you go out and purchase your hula skirts and tiki accesories, GA wants to pierce a big hole in your happy-balloon.

Because GA heard a rumor... true or not? 

Maybe not.  But here it is: the City had evidence for its case against Cummins (and perhaps against some of you sniggering out there) only it never made it to Court.

Why not?

It's all in F.B.I. custody. 

Here's what they've got, as reported by Ray Smith on November 25, 2011:

But what did the agents take from City Hall?

A response to an Open Public Records Act request filed by The Reporter shows exactly what the FBI seized during the May 26 raid, and the items taken from City Hall seem to resemble those of a Best Buy department store.

Forty-five DVD’s were taken from City Hall by the agents, according to the inventory sheet. The sheet does not state which movies were taken. The agents also took five CD’s, including one labeled “My Stuff.” The agents seized a Galaxy Tablet, which, according to BestBuy.com, goes for anywhere between $500 and $600. Also taken were six cell phones (three Blackberry’s and three Sprint phones).

Four laptops, six service tags, and 35 hard drives were also removed from the Information Technology office, according to the inventory sheet.

And the F.B.I. still has them.

So, if the rumor is true....how in the world can the City get a conviction against those involved in electronic theft or in crimes proven through digital fingerprints?

It can't.  Not until we get our digital 'fingerprints' back.  But as the rumor has it, the F.B.I. isn't 'done' with them yet.

So, sniggering Dark Siders: make of that what you will. 

If the Feds still have the servers, then they're well aware of the 'issues' they've created for Hoboken by keeping our 'fingerprints' in their custody.

So are the Feds willing to let some little fishies swim away as they cast their net for bigger ones? 

Who knows.  But some of you may want to put down your pina colada and put your attorney on speed-dial.

Have a nice weekend!

XO,
GA