HOPE Speaker Rombom Charged with Witness Tampering

An anonymous reader writes "Steven Rombom -- a.k.a. "Steven Rambam" -- the licensed private investigator who was arrested Saturday by FBI agents minutes before his talk on privacy at the Hope Number Six hacker convention in New York -- is being charged with witness tampering and obstruction of justice in a money laundering case the government is pursuing against Albert Santoro, a former Brooklyn assistant district attorney, according to Washingtonpost.com's Security Fix blog. The government alleges that Santoro hired Rombom to locate a government confidential informant whom Santoro accuses of entrapment, and that Rombom visited the informant's in-laws under the guise of an FBI agent and tried to convince them tha their son-in-law was a danger to their daughter and grandkids."

Comments

Re:Oops

[kfg]

Now that the details are out . . .

The details are not yet out. Only the accusation is out.

KFG

So we don't have to hate the FBI for this?

[Just Some Guy]

Geez, all the analysis from a few days ago sounded like poor Rombom was arrested for doing private investigator stuff on a willing "victim" and that the FBI was stupidly overreacting.

That, friends, is why it's a bad idea to get worked up before you know both sides of an issue. It's too stressful to work up a righteous indignation only to find out that the other side had a valid point you didn't know about.

Re:So we don't have to hate the FBI for this?

[mrxak]

Uh, the difference is that impersonating a federal officer is a crime, and that being an actual federal officer is not. And the FBI didn't walk in and tell everyone that Rambam is dangerous, they simply arrested him. What this PI allegedly did was illegal, arresting him for that illegal activity in a public place shouldn't be illegal.

Re:Oops

[Omnifarious]

The revealed details certainly don't justify a conviction, but they definitely do justify an arrest if there's sufficient evidence to warrant a trial. I was withholding judgement of the FBI's tactics until I learned what he was accused of. Now that I know, I'm not unhappy with them.

Re:So what did he actually do??

[kfg]

Seriously canyou be charged with witness tampering, by not even issuing a threat, to either the witness or his family?

You can be charged with anything, at any time. Think about that. Think about it really, really hard. The Framers did. Now think about the fact that these days you don't even really need to be charged, only "suspected" to be whisked away in the night.

I think, perhaps, the real question at issue in this case is can you be converted into a government witness by being charged with a crime?

KFG

Presumption of Innocence

[msparshatt]

It seems that most of the people who are replying to this story haven't heard the expression "Innocent until proven guilty" We know what he's been charged with but we still have no idea whether he did it or not. So the people assuming he got what he deserved are just as guilty of jumping the gun as the people who assumed it was a conspiracy.

Re:So much for all the love and sympathy

[DJCacophony]

They knew he would be at the conference at an exact time, and what would be going on then. It was thus an ideal place to do it, they could plan ahead and not have to improvise.

Re:Depends what they were trying to achieve

[Just Some Guy]

But if it wasn't connected to the content of his presentation, he could have taken five minutes after as easily as he could five minutes before.

Erm, why on Earth would they want to do that? Assuming that the FBI was acting in good faith, what would be the advantage in letting a suspect have a few more minutes of freedom - possibly enough for someone to figure out what was happening and warn him? Wouldn't it be their obligation to apprehend him (and theoretically remove him from public threat) as soon as possible?

Re:Give me my privacy!

[russ1337]

Obviously, he had plenty to hide

Can you please post your name, address, DOB, mothers maiden name, social, credit card no, and expiry date (and that little 3 digit code on the back)

or do you have something to hide...

Re:So much for all the love and sympathy

[Mister Whirly]

Easy there cowboy. Nobody likes the voice of reason at Slashdot. Your explanation is too simplistic and does not require the use of tinfoil hats. Bad!

Re:So much for all the love and sympathy

[MightyMartian]

The easiest way to catch a guy is if you know he's going to be some place at a specific time. That's what happened here. They are under no obligation to let him speak, but they are under an obligation as Federal agents and law inforcement officers to enforce arrest warrants.

Re:I don't understand how this all works

[Valdrax]

How does lying to the in-laws help obstruct justice?

Specifically, opening up a witness to intimidation by relaying his personal details to the people the FBI is trying to hide him from is obstruction of justice because it might cause him not to testify.

Scummy is understandable, but only when it's goal-directed.

When the goal is exposing a witness under federal protection to the very criminals they're trying to hide him from, you better be happy that people can be arrested for that.