Power Company Tip Leads to Bitcoin Mining Raid - page 3.

cyberpinoy

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Quote from: niothor on September 14, 2014, 03:42:13 AM

I really don't understand why the some of the guys here on the forum try to pose always in victims of the system and cry how the government is raping their innocent asses every day.

The guy had a history if growing marijuana , he had drugs in his house , what more do you want.

So if a guy that has a criminal record for car theft has suddenly 10 cars in his yard the cops shouldn't investigate it?

So why were the miners seized then? if this situation revolved solely around marijuana, and past marijuana offenses got him here, and the warrant was specifically for drugs and more specifically marijuana what purpose was there to confiscate anything having to do with bitcoins, mining equipment, and what they referred to as "Physical" bitcoins.

Ruthful

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Quote from: BCwinning on September 17, 2014, 12:06:56 AM

I think it's close minded to think "excess" usage is automatically a grow op.

If the person had a record of growing marijuana before it's pretty natural to jump to that conclusion, regardless of how correct that assumption is.it's kinda like how excons got put into suspect list when related crimes occurred in the vicinity.

Quote from: BCwinning on September 17, 2014, 12:06:56 AM

A person could be doing one of several things easily. all consisting of working out of their home.
Even doing some of these things for a hobby would make a meter spin hard.
a good compressor will eat up electric (woodshop, autobody, mechanic etc etc)
a kiln will eat up electric (ceramics / glass making)
electric water heaters are notorious (chandlers and I have no idea what else) a lot of hot showers Tongue

hah
obviously a bitcoin datacenter Tongue

someone could even have a real garden as well. (not the kind in the topic)
It would help to know what they consider "normal" or "excessive"

I think "excessive " would mean having a electricity usage far higher than normal(maybe magnitudes higher than thy's neighbours).I agree any of the activity listed would trigger that alert.I'm willing to bet that even if his excessive usage were due to the other activities listed he would still be raided based on his previously record .Especially if he kept those "hobbies" outside superficial scrutiny.

BCwinning

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Quote from: snappa4ever on September 16, 2014, 10:21:21 PM

Quote from: freedomno1 on September 16, 2014, 09:02:19 PM

Quote from: yatsey87 on September 14, 2014, 06:04:37 AM

Quote from: counter on September 14, 2014, 02:47:35 AM

I'd be so pissed if they broke into my house with loaded weapons simply because the electric company gave them a "tip". Those rat bastards got their money for the bill but then ratted him out. It isn't their job to report electricity use to the police, their not cops, that guy should be suing them and the cops. Cops are to lazy to do any kind of investigation and just kick in doors from miscellaneous tips. What did they find computers and some weed, tax dollars well spent I'd say.

I agree they should've collected more evidence before going in, because is a large electricity bill really proof of guilt of anything? In this case, obviously it wasnt.

True enough a large electricity bill by itself is not a crime
Should have not had to declare any criminal charges minus that marijuana I guess still was overkill for the things he was actually doing.
But as for seizing the miners pretty sure they were confused when they tried to search it lol.

You are correct to say that it is not illegal to use excess amounts of electricity. However this can be an indication of you doing something that is illegal (growing drugs in your house). Since the excess electric usage would typically mean illegal drug growing the judge was able to sign a search warrant authorizing the search of the residence

I think it's close minded to think "excess" usage is automatically a grow op.
A person could be doing one of several things easily. all consisting of working out of their home.
Even doing some of these things for a hobby would make a meter spin hard.
a good compressor will eat up electric (woodshop, autobody, mechanic etc etc)
a kiln will eat up electric (ceramics / glass making)
electric water heaters are notorious (chandlers and I have no idea what else) a lot of hot showers Tongue

hah
obviously a bitcoin datacenter Tongue

someone could even have a real garden as well. (not the kind in the topic)
It would help to know what they consider "normal" or "excessive"

snappa4ever

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Quote from: freedomno1 on September 16, 2014, 09:02:19 PM

Quote from: yatsey87 on September 14, 2014, 06:04:37 AM

Quote from: counter on September 14, 2014, 02:47:35 AM

I'd be so pissed if they broke into my house with loaded weapons simply because the electric company gave them a "tip". Those rat bastards got their money for the bill but then ratted him out. It isn't their job to report electricity use to the police, their not cops, that guy should be suing them and the cops. Cops are to lazy to do any kind of investigation and just kick in doors from miscellaneous tips. What did they find computers and some weed, tax dollars well spent I'd say.

I agree they should've collected more evidence before going in, because is a large electricity bill really proof of guilt of anything? In this case, obviously it wasnt.

True enough a large electricity bill by itself is not a crime
Should have not had to declare any criminal charges minus that marijuana I guess still was overkill for the things he was actually doing.
But as for seizing the miners pretty sure they were confused when they tried to search it lol.

You are correct to say that it is not illegal to use excess amounts of electricity. However this can be an indication of you doing something that is illegal (growing drugs in your house). Since the excess electric usage would typically mean illegal drug growing the judge was able to sign a search warrant authorizing the search of the residence

freedomno1

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Learning the troll avoidance button :)

Quote from: yatsey87 on September 14, 2014, 06:04:37 AM

Quote from: counter on September 14, 2014, 02:47:35 AM

I'd be so pissed if they broke into my house with loaded weapons simply because the electric company gave them a "tip". Those rat bastards got their money for the bill but then ratted him out. It isn't their job to report electricity use to the police, their not cops, that guy should be suing them and the cops. Cops are to lazy to do any kind of investigation and just kick in doors from miscellaneous tips. What did they find computers and some weed, tax dollars well spent I'd say.

I agree they should've collected more evidence before going in, because is a large electricity bill really proof of guilt of anything? In this case, obviously it wasnt.

True enough a large electricity bill by itself is not a crime
Should have not had to declare any criminal charges minus that marijuana I guess still was overkill for the things he was actually doing.
But as for seizing the miners pretty sure they were confused when they tried to search it lol.

Classy

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I don't think it is fair that he got jail time just for that... It is unreasonable. Interesting share though. Thanks!

joesmoe2012

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Ching-Chang;Ding-Dong

Quote from: ?? on ??

If you are going to run Bitcoin farms it is not advisable to run MJ farms concurrently.

Some excellent words of wisdom.

wasserman99

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Quote from: dKingston on September 16, 2014, 06:14:48 PM

Sad and funny story at the same time! That poor guy will go to jail for some weed but I don't understand a thing... Why did the police take the miners?
There is NOTHING illegal in mining! News still destroy credibility of bitcoin...

He was arrested because he was found to be in possession of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. He also is not going to see the inside of a jail/prison as his sentence of 6 months was suspended in it's entirety, meaning that as long as he stays out of trouble he will not go to jail.

I am perplexed myself as to why the police seized his miners as they are not evidence of any crime nor are they illegal to have.

I disagree that this will have any impact on bitcoin itself

BBmmBB

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Quote from: dKingston on September 16, 2014, 06:14:48 PM

Sad and funny story at the same time! That poor guy will go to jail for some weed but I don't understand a thing... Why did the police take the miners?
There is NOTHING illegal in mining! News still destroy credibility of bitcoin...

it's obvious he bought the dope with bitcoin, so that's prolly why they decided to snatch his equipment !!!? Undecided

inBitweTrust

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Quote from: dKingston on September 16, 2014, 06:14:48 PM

Sad and funny story at the same time! That poor guy will go to jail for some weed but I don't understand a thing... Why did the police take the miners?
There is NOTHING illegal in mining! News still destroy credibility of bitcoin...

They took them because the laws allow them to take any large amount of cash(with or without drugs) and all your possessions if they suspect you are dealing or profiting from drugs. They than are able to sell your assets on auction to buy themselves overtime, new gear, and bonuses.

This is the reason federal agents will often conduct raids even in the states where marijuana has been legalized or decriminalized. There is too much money being made by stealing from drug dealers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjRzOXgweVU

dKingston

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LAUNDER BITCOIN: https://BitLaunder.com

Sad and funny story at the same time! That poor guy will go to jail for some weed but I don't understand a thing... Why did the police take the miners?
There is NOTHING illegal in mining! News still destroy credibility of bitcoin...

inBitweTrust

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Activity: 658

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What is most egregious, shouldn't be the fact that police may have used illegal methods to investigate his mining operation(IR detectors without a search warrant), or the fact that they stole his mining equipment, but the fact that certain humans are given special privileges to torture you, kidnap you and rob from you because you enjoy consuming a plant.

This is obscene and I would suggest that he should be in his right to defend himself against these unethical thugs.

counter

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Time is on our side, yes it is!

Police didn't find a grow op but a bag personal consumption, and then they stole his computers. Anybody that can't understand that is borderline brain dead or far worse. Paint the picture however you want about people stating the facts and their opinions. The reality is the majority of people no right from wrong and don't need to be told the difference. The post in this thread is clear evidence of that.

It's the people that refuse to admit when their wrong, they are the real issue. Just like the cops in this story, some people can't admit when they are wrong and they will make up any bull just to seem credible. In reality they are just butthurt children who don't have a clue how the real world works.

inBitweTrust

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Quote from: jjc326 on September 16, 2014, 05:36:21 PM

They can take anything in your home, basically, when they find drugs.

It's much worse than that. Asset forfeiture laws grant them the ability to steal from you if they find cash without drugs. Judges have decided that cash can be treated as a having "personhood" status and charged directly without evidence showing the money was used for illegal purposes.

This unusual interpretation of the law forces the defendant to have to hire a lawyer an prove the money was legally obtained for the chance of getting some of it back. You are therefore guilty until proven innocent.

This is one reason why Bitcoin is so important and why any "Banking approved" services like Applepay will never have the same important use cases that Bitcoin can provide. Apple, paypal, and banks will instantly freeze your funds when a judge demands so, while the blockchain remains sovereign.

jjc326

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They can take anything in your home, basically, when they find drugs. They'll use the law of forfeiture and say anything you got is due to selling drugs so they can take it. You should see how much law enforcement gets, cars, cash, etc.

niothor

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in defi we trust

Quote from: TheClownSong on September 16, 2014, 05:17:01 PM

Quote from: BCwinning on September 16, 2014, 04:39:45 PM

Quote from: omgbossis21 on September 16, 2014, 04:36:54 PM

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it. I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument. I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different. For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around? Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin. Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Absolutely right, if he does get it back it's going to cost him a lot of money.
The system is set up that it costs you several thousand dollars to get back property that was
illegally seized. They sure don't just say here is your stuff back sorry.

Even if he does get his miners back they will have deprecated in value by the time he gets them back as the difficulty is rising rapidly (making them less valuable). I also find it very hard to believe that a search warrant would include computer equipment to be seized if it is suspected that the man was growing drugs in his house.

You know that the raid was from last year and there is no mention about bitcoin miners in the press for all this period except a crappy article in a crappy blog like altcoinpress who denatured a post from 1 year ago to make it sensational?

Also they used a picture from another police operation?

TheClownSong

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Quote from: BCwinning on September 16, 2014, 04:39:45 PM

Quote from: omgbossis21 on September 16, 2014, 04:36:54 PM

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it. I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument. I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different. For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around? Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin. Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Absolutely right, if he does get it back it's going to cost him a lot of money.
The system is set up that it costs you several thousand dollars to get back property that was
illegally seized. They sure don't just say here is your stuff back sorry.

Even if he does get his miners back they will have deprecated in value by the time he gets them back as the difficulty is rising rapidly (making them less valuable). I also find it very hard to believe that a search warrant would include computer equipment to be seized if it is suspected that the man was growing drugs in his house.

inBitweTrust

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While DEA SWAT raid won't typically be carried out by evidence of a high electrical bill alone, the corroborating evidence can be extremely low to instigate a dangerous and violent raid in the US.

There are more and more cases like the example below where raids are done based upon horrible evidence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJXD4iLn6g
Buy hydroponics from a store, police illegally check for excess heat (Very commonly done without search warrants - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmP_KtmcB4) , police look for gardening evidence without bothering to even test for marijuana all will prompt a DEA Raid. These raids will often destroy property, cause tremendous psychological trauma , and sometimes kill innocent dogs and people.

Inland checkpoints with full body cavity searches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPEXYkffgpw

The laws in the US when it comes to asset seizures and drugs are going to insure that police continue to conduct dangerous raids and setup illegal inland checkpoints. America has become a police state.

BCwinning

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Quote from: omgbossis21 on September 16, 2014, 04:36:54 PM

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it. I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument. I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different. For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around? Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin. Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Absolutely right, if he does get it back it's going to cost him a lot of money.
The system is set up that it costs you several thousand dollars to get back property that was
illegally seized. They sure don't just say here is your stuff back sorry.

omgbossis21

sr. member

Activity: 336

Merit: 250

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it. I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument. I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different. For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around? Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin. Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Topic: Power Company Tip Leads to Bitcoin Mining Raid - page 3. (Read 8393 times)