Alleged ATM Scammer Swallowed Flash Drive During Arrest

A Long Island City man's daring attempt to destroy evidence after his arrest on January 21st backfired when the evidence—a 4 gigabyte Kingston flash drive—got stuck inside his intestines. Florin Necula was arrested outside a Queens bank for allegedly installing card-readers over A.T.M. slots to steal data (and $35,000). He was taken to a Secret Service office in Brooklyn, where he and several co-defendants were to be processed. But while there, and in full view of investigators, Necula "grabbed Subject Flash Drive 2, which had been on his person at the time of his arrest, and swallowed," according to court papers obtained by The Smoking Gun.

And Necula might have gotten away with it too, had his stomach acids been up to the task of digesting the flash drive. But after four days, Necula was unable to pass the item and consented to surgery when doctors warned him it could obstruct his colon. Now he's charged with obstruction of justice, among other things—and after all that, a lab technician was still able to retrieve the information from the flash drive, the Post reports. His lawyer Sanford Talkin tells the Daily News he may file a motion to suppress the evidence because "they didn't have a right to take it from him."

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By John Del Signore in News on March 3, 2010 10:00 AM

Comments [rss]

JenChungsBaby

So is this now a new meaning for the term "data mule?"

Jen S

I feel terrible sympathy for the lab tech.

NannyState

If the NYPD hired fluffers, there wouldn't be any need for expensive surgery.

hotstepper

criminal innards are always great fun, so i get why reporters would focus on the sensationalist aspect of this story.

but why no information about which banks were targeted? did i miss that?

tien

Ah technology. You've made it possible to swallow 4 GB of memory. Can you imagine swallowing that 10 years ago?

Spirit of 76

Actually, to be precise, he swallowed 4GB of storage, not memory. Big difference. And I'm not impressed. If he swallowed a 2TB hard drive, that would be a different story...

JenChungsBaby

Ten years from now you'll be able to store that much data in one sperm cell.

Kelles

He could have avoided this by remembering to: "Safely Eject Hardware"

Guest

:X

inkhorn

Win! for quasi-obscure Windows reference.

bitchincamaro

NYPD would have had that sucker out in 2 seconds, utilizing their patented Butt Plucker 3000.

Think2wice

Weapons-grade Dulcolax with a Slim-fast chaser and a couple of home enemas ought to do the trick...and teach him a lesson

Guest

4 gig human ipod? it's trash... besides, where would you plug it in?

streber

"I don't know why

he swallowed a drive.

Perhaps he'll die."

theevilone

Now that's commitment.

Spirit of 76

If only he had listened to his mother. Always chew at least 20 times before swallowing!

potsmoker

good point, granting right to remove for medical reasons wasnt actually the same as to use as evidence and an additional charge.

Hugh

This guy's lawyer has a good point. Suspect granted permission to doctors with the understanding and expectation that docs were acting as docs, not as arms of the police.

JenChungsBaby

After swallowing a flash drive always gorge on wings and beer to make sure the contents are no longer retrievable.

Gotham Extremist

Wondering how many carlories it was.

nicemarmot

Wasn't there some case where a guy who'd been shot tried to say the police couldn't take the bullet the doctors had removed from him? I don't remember what the outcome was...

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

I just know the outcome on law&Order and the judge ruled in favor of the people.

Stephenson Billings

But aren't Law & Order episodes admissible as legal precedent? This is self-incrimination and criminals have a right not to incriminate themselves.

CR

"Florin Necula" Is that a name from the future?

Greenpoint60

hunky?

FinalShaft

"...they didn't have a right to take it from him."

I don't even know the guy and I can't take his shit either.

potsmoker

smart move dumb outcome, it could have stayed in his stomach or intestines until passed and force the cops to sift through his feces for days, if it was lodged in his colon and caused a medical issue he would have known that before anyone else and requested immediate medical attention. too bad the guy got scared into consenting to surgery. hahaha.

too bad he didnt use encryption, trucrypt locks your data, they cant force a password out of your mind and its perfectly legal to refuse, its already been decided that pw requests are not in contempt of a court order.

look up brute force calculators to decide how a 9 character, 3 number, 1 symbol password would take years to crack.