Man Swallows USB Drive to Destroy Evidence

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A New York man is facing charges for obstruction of justice for swallowing a Kingston USB flash in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The Smoking Gun reports that Florin Necula was arrested on January 21 for allegedly placing card readers on ATMs in an attempt to skim information from the magnetic strips. Necula was apprehended with three co-conspirators and while in Secret Service custody, decided to swallow the flash drive they had confiscated from him.

According to a February 25 search warrant affidavit:

"After being arrested, Necula was taken to the USSS Offices to be questioned and processed. While there, he grabbed Subject Flash Drive 2, which had been on his person at the time of his arrest, and swallowed."

Already in quite a bit of trouble for the ATM scam, Necula now faces charges for obstruction of justice. However, his story doesn't end there. Necula didn't pass the USB drive in a timely manner. In fact, four days passed and there was no flash drive to speak of. Doctors decided that leaving the flash drive in there was not an option and surgery was scheduled.

TSG cites a source that says Necula eventually agreed to allow doctors at New York Downtown Hospital to remove the item and he is being held without bail at Queens jail.

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Jane McEntegart

Jane McEntegart works in marketing communications at Intel and was previously Manager of Content Marketing at ASUS North America. Before that, she worked for more than seven years at Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, holding such roles as Contributing Editor and Senior News Editor and writing about everything from smartphones to tablets and games consoles.

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42 Comments Comment from the forums
  • False_Dmitry_II
    So how intact was it?
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    Hmm... wtf? Why didn't he just break the drive in half (unless it's a metal encased Flash drive)? Just saying....
    Reply
  • polly the parrot
    Must've not been pleasant to 'remove the item'.
    Reply
  • Mmm strawberry metallic
    Reply
  • cheepstuff
    I thought it was illegal to perform an operation without his consent. so how could they have scheduled an operation before he agreed to it? i guess it doesn't matter anyway because if that drive refused to come out, he would be begging for the anyway operation soon enough.
    Reply
  • Mmm strawberry metallic
    Reply
  • polly the parrot
    Also, wouldn't the hydrochloric acid in the stomach probably destroy the circuit board on the flash drive if its been in there for 4 days?
    Reply
  • twisted politiks
    Shadow703793Hmm... wtf? Why didn't he just break the drive in half (unless it's a metal encased Flash drive)? Just saying....
    all this would do would be to prolong the 'USSS' a little while considering you dont need the pcb or anything else but the flash modules, which are about actual size, give or take a few mm's. and even if you did break the actual flash module, they could still grab part of the data from the intact pieces.

    depending on what information was on that flash drive, he might have been smart to try and destroy it. obstruction of justice might get him in trouble, but the information on that flash drive could have been a lot worse. we may never know :)
    Reply
  • shadowryche
    I once had a vet bring me a flash drive she recovered from a Mastiff. I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol, and it ended up working fine. How ever it was in the dog maybe 12 hours max.
    Reply
  • scione
    musta had some pretty bad porn on there ...
    Reply