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

Comments

  1. I need one of the legal minds to 'splain this one to me. Why go ahead with a trial if the evidence isn't available? Isn't it the case that the guy can't be tried again? Not that I have any animus toward him. He's less than a small fish.

    The FBI knows better than anyone at this point that unless the thug culture is torn out by the roots, lopping off a head here and there won't make a difference. If anything it emboldens the others because they assume that once the blade has moved on they have maybe five consequence-free years to enjoy before it returns for a few more heads. It becomes a game.

    PS. Good idea bringing back authentication. Takes a second and slows down the weasels who have been sent to wreck the blogs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Leaks.

      Yeah, I removed authentication because one reader complained... well, that lasted 24 hours. I got bombarded with robo-spam.

      Delete
  2. PS to the FBI. When I'm not canoodling with my wife Dawn Zimmer or running my blog Grafix Avenger (so I am told by anonymous twits) I run a project to eliminate Windows XP and IE8 across the enterprise. Microsoft is pulling the plug next April. XP doesn't support Visual Studio 2012, Office 2013 and loads of other apps. I notice Justice moved to v7 but you guys are still on XP.

    Time to play catch-up. If you'll be good enough to arrest all the garbage that is plaguing this town, I'll help you manage your hw/sw upgrades. Deal?

    ReplyDelete
  3. It wasn't a criminal trial. It was an administrative hearing regarding wrongful termination of a municipal employee. This guy can get indicted tomorrow if the Feds have the evidence. The NJ state judges and administrative law judges can be just as crooked as the politicians who put them in place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The city was unable to prove they had cause to terminate Cummins. If the F.B.I. did have materials in their custody to support the city's action we'd have seen a very different result.

      Now the city's on the hook for Cummins' back pay and attny's fees on top of our own legal expenses.

      Delete
  4. Some legal minds feel that once Riccardi is sentenced, the fur will fly. The ones that the Mayor wants to be held accountable, may very well have face the music.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope it happens soon, very freaking soon.

      Delete
    2. I'm not a bloody robot.

      Ricciardi has pled guilty and will be sentenced to five years or less for his cooperation with the government no later than July 1st.

      Let the fur of justice commence!

      Delete

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