Agents from somewhere placed a GPS tracking device on my vehicle the day after my arrest. I had bonded out of jail and had no choice but to go to the grocery store as Thanksgiving was two days away. They had me followed for the hour and a half that I shopped. I knew I was being watched and followed, but was clueless as to why at the time. I actually thought it had to do with how I paid for my purchase, so I used a credit card instead of cash. The stalking in the store was all too obvious as I was in there for so long with my teenage son's shopping list.
It was a couple of weeks later when I realized why I was followed that day. My house had a double-car garage and the door was down 95% of the time. My windows all had sheers and heavy drapes that were usually closed. My yard had a high privacy fence. They had no way of placing the device on my vehicle because they couldn't tell if anyone was home or not.
I am the champion at losing anyone in traffic or out of traffic. I learned to drive as a teenager in Germany, and I sure can drive if I want or need to. When I took the driving test in Germany it was 300 multiple choice questions and a serious driving test, and it required real study and practice. The test in Florida is 25 stupid multiple choice questions that anyone with half a brain could pass without looking at the book. In my younger years I also raced on occasion, and usually won. So trust me – I know how to drive.
The realization that they'd placed a GPS tracking device on my vehicle hit me when I noted that they kept showing-up (undercover, but still them) in places that I was when I positively knew that I had not been followed. It also occurred to me why they placed the tracking device on my car at about that same point in time: Agents broke into my home while other agents were sitting next to me in restaurants or lurking around corners when I was inside a friend's house. To this day I have no real idea what they were looking for when they broke into my home, but if I had to guess I would say that it was client lists – on my computer or actual books in my closets. They never found anything because there wasn't anything to find.
It is important to note that this all transpired beginning on November 21, 2001. In late 2005, my son drowned the vehicle in a deepwater canal out by the Kennedy Space Center – an accident of course. I do hope that the tracking device went down with the vehicle. I'm also sure that another was attached to the next vehicle that I owned - long after my jury acquittal.
This was never admitted by the MBI or any other agency, but years later (2007) I heard of another situation and case in which this was done to an MBI defendant shortly after arrest. They didn't admit it in her case either, but she was positive they did it. The case is the Li Ping Ding massage parlor case and Ms. Ding ended-up pleading guilty to one count of RICO. It is Orange County, Florida case # 2007-CF-004712-A-O and for some reason, the case is currently listed as "on appeal". Ms. Ding will be on felony probation until 2019.
I am sure that illegally placing a GPS tracking device on vehicles is something the MBI did frequently - hell they were caught taping an attorney and his client in an office, so please don't pretend they're good and acted legally. The funny thing with the US criminal justice system is that it's acceptable for law enforcement to break the law, but unacceptable for a citizen to expect their constitutional rights. Does anyone care that this has been done illegally for so many years? Nope – no one cared when I complained.
Image: Communication Satellite - 2009 © Natalia Silych / 2010 © iStockphoto.com
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