Feds Seek Help From Google to Unlock Pimp's Cellphone

Dante Dears went to prison in 2005 for pimping as part of a prostitution ring and was released last spring. Authorities believe he has started the nefarious practice again, but they need to get into his cellphone to prove it.

NBC San Diego reports that authorities believe Dears was using his phone to pimp women in the prostitution ring "Pimpin' Hoes Daily" to get around GPS monitoring. Dears' Android Samsung phone is one where the password requires entering a correct pattern. Too many attempts with the incorrect sequence caused the phone to lock. With Dears not cooperating, the feds have gone as far to get a warrant requesting Google help them crack the code.

Google, which owns the Android operating system, has said it will comply with the request but only after the warrant is authenticated. Watch the NBC affilate's report:

NBC San Diego reports a media lawyer as saying Google would have no reason not to comply with the warrant, should it prove authentic.

Still, in the hypothetical scenario that it doesn't, there could be the potential that the court might force Dears to input his password. In a recent case of a Colorado woman allegedly involved in real estate fraud, the authorities seized a laptop from her home with a warrant. The laptop was expertly encrypted. From there the feds petitioned the court to force Ramona Fricosu to unlock the device. Fricosu argued that she should be protected from doing so according to her Fifth Amendment right to protect herself against self-incrimination. Fricosu's saga ended with her laptop being decrypted with a password provided to authorities by a co-defendant. Still the case brought up the constitutionality of the woman being order to open her laptop when the authorities only speculated evidence was on the device.

In Dears' case, Google has said it is making sure the warrant "meets both the letter and spirit of the law before complying." NBC San Diego reports local attorneys saying Google receives requests for its users' information frequently but requires authentication of warrants to avoid getting sued itself.

(Related: Report: Government requests Google users' data 31 times each day)

[H/T Fark]