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HOPE Speaker Rombom Charged with Witness Tampering

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the complicationism dept.

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."

6 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Oops by kfg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now that the details are out . . .

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

    KFG

  2. Re:So what did he actually do?? by kfg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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

  3. Presumption of Innocence by msparshatt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  4. Re:So much for all the love and sympathy by DJCacophony · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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  5. Re:So much for all the love and sympathy by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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!

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    "But this one goes to 11!"
  6. Re:So we don't have to hate the FBI for this? by mrxak · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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    -mrxak
    Onions Will Kill You