DEA Agent Becomes A Woman on Facebook

According to CBSnews, a Drug Enforcement Agency agent named Timothy Sinnigen was sued because he created a fake Facebook page based on the photographs and personal information contained on a woman's phone who had been arrested in a drug case. The page was created to trick the woman's friends into telling the DEA drug secrets. Initially, the act was protected in court, but the Justice Department later stated that it is going to look into the practice to determine whether or not it went too far. The Facebook account looked extremely real, containing photos of the woman posing on the hood of a BMW and her holding her son and niece. There were even posts about how she missed her boyfriend, who had also been arrested. After learning about these events, Sondra Arquiett, the woman who was arrested, had filed a complaint and sued the federal government and the DEA for the false Facebook page. In the trial, both the Drug Enforcement Agency and the DEA agent himself, Timothy Sinnigen, would be named as defendants. Ms. Arquiett had demanded 250,000 dollars to repay for the damages done. Many people seem to have sided with the criminal who had been arrested for drug dealing. But at least one criminal had been captured through this one case none-the-less. The DEA had claimed to have the ability to use the woman's cell phone for whatever purpose they felt necessary, due to Ms. Arquiett handing her phone over to police. I personally believe that the agent did nothing wrong. In my opinion, once someone has committed a major illegal act, such as murder or drug dealing, then that person's rights should become void. No matter what is truly morally right or wrong, there is no denying the truth that the fake Facebook page had managed to aid in the arrest of at least one criminal involved with drugs.