Lobbyist Pleads Guilty to Tossing Her BlackBerry
July 29th, 2008
Lobbyist Pleads Guilty to Tossing Her BlackBerry in a Fast Food Trash Can
Most people go to great lengths to make sure their BlackBerry is always at their side. In the extreme, we all know “CrackBerry” users (maybe you’re one?) who go into email withdrawal after just a few moments of mini-keyboard denial.
So the idea of throwing your BlackBerry into a trash can is a notion that sends shivers down the spines of dedicated power users. Unless, of course, you are under investigation by the FBI and you know you have just a few days in which to produce your BlackBerry in response to a Department of Justice Grand Jury Subpoena. This is the case of Cecelia Grimes, a 43 year old lobbyist from Pennsylvania. It seems Ms. Grimes is suspected of being involved in inappropriate lobby contracts with former Pennsylvania congressman Curt Weldon. I guess it would be safe to say that she thought some of her BlackBerry emails would be incriminating? Hmmm.
Ms. Grimes admitted to a federal judge that she had thrown away paper documents related to the case and had pitched her BlackBerry into a fast food garbage can to prevent the FBI from recovering potentially damaging documents & emails from it. Grimes faces a possible prison term of 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
So remember litigators….always include BlackBerrys, cellphones, and other handheld devices when crafting your motions for discovery of Electronically Stored Information (ESI). They can be gold mines of critical digital evidence….just ask Cecelia Grimes.
For the full DOJ press release see…
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2008/07/07-25-08-grimes-guilty.pdf
This case was also reported in the Wall Street Journal. July 28, 2008, page A2