One of the men caught in the FBI’s notorious “Operation Pacifier,” U.S. Army Sgt. David Tippens, fought the charges filed against him with more intensity than most. Documents released in his case revealed the “outrageous” behavior of the FBI. Tippens, defended by the public defender who got one PlayPen member acquitted, appeared to be headed in the same direction. However, based on the extremity of some of his actions, David tippens will likely spend four years in prison.
The FBI’s illegal warrant and subsequent hacking caused the prosecution’s case to slowly fall apart. Judges across the country suppressed the evidence obtained as a result of warrant. The FBI refused to hand over complete details of the “NIT” malware used to identify Tor users who accessed the child pornography website.
Federal public defender Colin Fieman said, regarding the warrant and hack:
“We have never seen, in our nation’s history as far as I can tell, seen a warrant so utterly sweeping. 100,000 potential targets. Something like 8700 IP addresses captured. At least 1,152 open investigations. And now oddly enough only, about 214 arrests.”
Of course, to the FBI, Operation Pacifier marked the most successful FBI operation of this sort:
“The case—and the thousands of follow-up investigations it has launched—is unprecedented in its scope and reach, FBI officials said. It represents the Bureau’s most successful effort to date against users of Tor’s hidden service sites. It has opened new avenues for international cooperation in efforts to prosecute child abusers around the world.”
U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan recognized the illegal nature of the warrant and suppressed evidence in many cases. The FBI fought so hard to keep the details of their Tor “hack” private that one defendant walked free. The judge could not see the case proceeding with no evidence supporting the Department of Justice’s charges. Tippens, despite avoiding as harsh a penalty as called for, will not walk away a free man.
The Judge suggested methods through which the FBI could confidentially disclose evidence—methods where the relevant parties could evaluate the NIT in a sterile environment. Unsurprisingly, the FBI opted against this route. And thus the FBI’s evidence became inadmissible in court.
This resulted in a very low-level conviction for Tippens. Judge Bryan convicted the former Army Sgt. of possession of child pornography. The US charged Tippens with three child porn related charges: receipt of child pornography, transportation of child pornography across state lines, and possession of child pornography. The district judge dismissed the first two, both of which were far more serious than possession.
In February 2016, an officer obtained a search warrant for Tippens home. Law enforcement then conducted a search of the defendant’s house. “When agents arrived at his home, Tippens’ big-screen TV showed a video of the rape of a young girl,” a local channel described. “Tippens had been masturbating, and told agents he soundproofed his bedroom so others in his home wouldn’t hear him.”
Prosecutors have now asked for a four year prison term, followed by 15 years of supervision.
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