Florida Man Jams and disables Washington County Radios for hours

[JethrowJohnson]

Cody Johnson is currently in FL state prison (they sent him to a low security prison with work release). He took a plea deal on all of the cases Bay and Washington County put on him and received 5 years with credit for time alrady served in county jail. He is scheduled to be released on 4/3/23.

Isn't there a country singer named Cody Johnson?

 

[JethrowJohnson]

"Unauthorized Reception of Communications Services" Did he have their encryption keys, too?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

"Unauthorized Reception of Communications Services" Did he have their encryption keys, too?

Unless he has a ham license, he may be violating Florida's scanner laws if the radio is in a vehicle or business.

 

[JethrowJohnson]

Unless he has a ham license, he may be violating Florida's scanner laws if the radio is in a vehicle or business.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Thanks.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

He'll say he was "helping the police".

 

[batdude]

FL Statute 812.15.(4) (B) seems to deal more with stealing cable TV service.... seems to me he didn't have a good lawyer.... but his confession did not help.

(b) Any person who intentionally possesses five or more communications devices and knows or has reason to know that the design of such devices renders them primarily useful for committing, or assisting others in committing, a violation of paragraph (2)(a) commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

but ... para 2a seems to be the nit:

A person may not knowingly intercept, receive, decrypt, disrupt, transmit, retransmit, or acquire access to any communications service without the express authorization of the cable operator or other communications service provider, as stated in a contract or otherwise, with the intent to defraud the cable operator or communications service provider, or to knowingly assist others in doing those acts with the intent to defraud the cable operator or other communications provider.

key words there "with the intent to defraud"

I'm not an attorney. This is not legal advice.

 

[mmckenna]

FL Statute 812.15.(4) (B) seems to deal more with stealing cable TV service.... seems to me he didn't have a good lawyer.... but his confession did not help.

Just curious and not sure how to look it up, but did he refuse counsel and represent himself? After all, he's close personal buds with the police department...

 

[chrismol1]

If you go to the Bay Co clerk site, court records and type in the name and see the case number for the listed above, the one with multiple charges of impersonate and radio. He had a lawyer who tried to throw out everything because the claim he was tricked into meeting the police and then illegally searched and everything is fruit of poisonousness tree

 

[JethrowJohnson]

If you go to the Bay Co clerk site, court records and type in the name and see the case number for the listed above, the one with multiple charges of impersonate and radio. He had a lawyer who tried to throw out everything because the claim he was tricked into meeting the police and then illegally searched and everything is fruit of poisonousness tree

I hate it when lawyer's can't just admit that their client was wrong.

 

[chrismol1]

I hate it when lawyer's can't just admit that their client was wrong.

A applaud the effort of defense attorneys to make sure the entire case and prosecution follows all the legal law and this country afforded the presumed guilty with the best representation to their client. Without that we would not have the best justice system in the world

 

[JethrowJohnson]

A applaud the effort of defense attorneys to make sure the entire case and prosecution follows all the legal law this country afforded the presumed guilty with the best representation to their client. Without that we would not have the best justice system in the world

I agree. But sometimes it just seems like they know the defendant was in the wrong, but they refuse to take accountability and try to say the search was illegal when they know full well it wasn't. And I don't mean all lawyers, but more defendants themselves mostly.

 

[MTS2000des]

At the end of the day, dummy got convicted and went to prison.

Let this serve as an example of what can happen when one thinks that accessing government radio systems without authorization is a consequence free act. Sure, this guy went to the extreme end of the spectrum making fake calls, being nefarious stunning TRBO consoles, et al, henceforth why he actually got time behind bars- but this stuff is taken seriously by those charged with protecting such systems.

It goes without saying that LMR security is becoming more in the light, and many are working to secure systems from unauthorized access in a myriad of ways. CISA just released a paper on LMR security for the first time.

Clowns like this are why many systems become locked down, whether it be LLA like authentication (P25), RAS (TRBO) or NXDN trunking (ESN validation) to encrypting all voice communication. If this trend persists, things like P25 control channel encryption could be implemented, which means GAME OVER.

 

[dmh77yy]

hopefully the felon in possession of a firearm charge is enough to ensure he's put away for a while.... I would almost bet that most of the other charges are pled down, even with his confession.

edit: he's in prison. Inmate Population Information Detail (state.fl.us)

surprisingly he got a light sentence for all this. He is at a work release center "prison" in St. Pete which is about as easy as it gets. You work a job they give you at a local business or state park, etc and sleep in the work release center at night.

Given his very light sentence I suspect this guy helped out on a more serious case as an informant. He could have easily been charged by the feds for this too and wasn't. He got lucky given his past criminal history and all these new cases plus the gun.

 

[pandel]

There is more here than meets the eye. Don't forget, he was also in possession of a badge and a gun at the time of his arrest. The impersonation charge alone should have gotten locked up for quite a while. I completely agree if this trend continues encryption will become the norm not the exception. And that sucks.

 

[bravo14]

I completely agree if this trend continues encryption will become the norm not the exception. And that sucks.

Before I moved early this year, in Washington County SO some units UID/RID were ENC guessing they were detectives other units and disp open, also the Bay p25 is open bcso has a few ENC TGs.

 

[mastr]

The thing I find interesting here, and what should be a lesson learned (but will probably not be) is that the typical police method of escalating until compliance is gained backfired in a notable way. This - ".... a police lieutenant sent a radio signal to the transmitting device, intending to shut down the unauthorized transmissions. ... did not yield the result they expected.

 

[JethrowJohnson]

escalating until compliance is gained

That's actually deescalation. Someone's acting out of control or disorderly, you put them in cuffs, and if necessary tackle them if you have to, but once they're in cuffs they can't reach into their pockets or throw a punch at somebody, or something like that, then no more use of force is necessary. Everyone wins. And maybe it might even keep the subject from doing something that will ensure a trip to jail.

 

[mastr]

That's actually deescalation...

I respectfully disagree; cuffing a person is essentially an act of (usually) decisive escalation. In other words, the cuffs either negate the effectiveness of further non-compliance or result in compliance. It is may be politically correct to call it "deescalaction", but that is not what it is. (ask anyone who has ever unwillingly been in a pair of cuffs for their opinion)

Anyway, in this case the result was almost certainly not what was anticipated.

 

[Ensnared]

Every time I watch Beavis and Butthead, I can actually feel my brain shrinking within my skull.

Now, they are the face of America. Sit back and enjoy the laugh, provided you have Paramount Plus.

 

[JethrowJohnson]

I respectfully disagree; cuffing a person is essentially an act of (usually) decisive escalation. In other words, the cuffs either negate the effectiveness of further non-compliance or result in compliance. It is may be politically correct to call it "deescalaction", but that is not what it is. (ask anyone who has ever unwillingly been in a pair of cuffs for their opinion)

Anyway, in this case the result was almost certainly not what was anticipated.

Suppose you're an officer and you're responding to a radio call about a disorderly subject yelling and cursing at vehicles going by and he also seems to be intoxicated according to the caller. You get there before the other unit and you ask the subject what's wrong and nicely ask him if he wants to talk about it a minute. This is deescalation in the sense that you're trying to just talk to him and get him calmed down. But what if he's not calming down and he starts making threats and his hands are all over the place and sometimes going to his pockets. The second unit still hasn't arrived yet, so you're on your own for now. What would you do?