Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant Question regarding search warrant

[boanon]

Hello, In June of 2008 I was subject to a federal search warrant. No charges were filed since that time and I can not see if anything I have done was illegal and I FOR SURE have no involvement in the crimes listed on the warrant. I may have been in contact with others who were but I was not. I was merely in a roleplaying type thing. In April and May of 2009 I heard from the agents that I would get my stuff back soon with the one in May saying it would be a few more weeks and apologized many times for the delay. I did not contact them or solicit them for that information, the agent took it upon himself to contact me. I was cooperative fully with them. I don't really care about the stuff they have but I am getting married in a couple of months and want to put this whole thing behind me. Do you think that they would have contacted me saying my stuff would be shipped if they did not complete their exam of it and found nothing and do you think its somewhere in beurocratic limbo right now?

 

[army judge]

The federal system is a world unto its own.
In theory you should get your stuff returned.
But, in the federal world, who knows?
The contact by the federal agent could have been to ascertain your whereabouts.
It might also have been a polite attempt to assuage any hurt feelings.
Logic and experience with the federal system tell me that you are no longer on their radar.
Did any of the seized items have anything to do with computers or the internet?
What items were seized?
What charges were levied against the other parties?
You might have become an unindicted co-conspirator.
You might wish to discover your status in this matter.
This website contains all federal indictments across the land.
https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/psco/cgi-bin/register.pl
You could inquire against your personal information and see what is revealed.
You could also inquire using the names of the others and their legal particulars will be displayed.

 

[mightymoose]

If you wre to jump up and down and make your complaint heard then you could probably get some results. There is no legitimate reason for them to still have your property at this point. If you continue to just wait for them to return it then you won't ever get the property back. Be more proactive and seek the return of your property.

 

[boanon]

Thanks for the reply Mighty and Judge .. to answer Judge's questions ...

The items seized were 2 hard drives and 2 cameras. I know for a fact that there are no illegal files on my computers and I do not understand why the cameras were taken as they had nothing to do with anything and the warrant had nothing to do with illegal images nor were there any illegal images sent, received, or viewed by me or searched for or asked for by me. The jist of the issue is that other people wanted to do illegal things with a character I made up. I realize that can lead to all kinds of moral judgments but people deal with unaddressed past abuse in many different wants... some get into drugs, some kill themselves, some abuse others, some are obsessed with being abused and/or understanding the kind of person who would do such a thing. I was the latter. If anything, this whole ordeal has forced me to face things in a more constructive way. I only chatted with adult men. The agents wanted to assume that character I made up in order to target those other men to which I consented. I do not know any of the other men involved and in a follow-up after they had my consent the agents told me that the others involved would not have to hear of my involvement so me not knowing them and them not knowing me is probably best for me.

They may have been ascertaining my whereabouts but that was 10 months ago and it does not really explain the apologetic followup a month and a half later saying there would be a delay. My assumption was the slow complicated beurocracy of the federal government. Personally, I do not need my stuff back. In the nearly 2 years since they took it, the hard drives are replaced and practically obsolete, 1 camera was a cheapo, and the other used to be expensive but is not only worth a fraction of that it once was and it has also been replaced.

Thanks again for your replies!

 

[army judge]

I hope, for your sake, that there NEVER was anything illegal on that computer.
For, if there had been illegal images on that computer, they can be forensically resurrected.
You may never have done anything illegal, but did others ever use your computer?
They MIGHT have placed illicit materials on YOUR computer.
If they did, you'd be held accountable.
I am more inclined to think that you are an unindicted co-conspirator in this matter.
Check out the website I gave you above.
You should be able to discover everything about this case that you don't already know.

 

[boanon]

I think I may check out that link but if charges were never filed would my name still be in there? And I can assure you that no one, including myself, posted anything illegal on that computer. Besides, after nearly 2 years I would hope that they would have completed the exam by now and I would suspect it was completed when he contacted me about a year ago about my stuff coming back. But then again, its probably in a room somewhere waiting for some kind of paperwork that no one has the time or priority to fill out and to be honest I don't really care if the stuff ever comes back. Thanks again for your help.

 

[army judge]

If you were an unindicted co-conspirator, yes your name would be associated with the case. But, unless you checked (or they wanted you to be a witness) you'd never be any the wiser.


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