Bill Cheek's Last Stand ----------------------- Published on October 21, 1999 By James B. Kelleher Bill and Cindy Cheek thought they'd hit bottom earlier this year, after they were targeted in a sting operation by New York City cops who didn't like the fact that the local couple was equipping Big Apple residents to eavesdrop on police communications. Arrested in late March in an early-morning raid on their Mira Mesa home by more than a dozen armed federal agents, the Cheeks were whisked downtown, strip-searched, locked up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, hauled before a judge, and charged with conspiring to use interstate commerce "to distribute prohibited electronic communication intercepting devices." "I still have a sore on my foot I got from the sandals they made me wear in jail," says Bill. Later, they were pressured to fly to New York -- a $1500 trip they paid for themselves -- in order to be interrogated by investigators who, Bill says, "called us every name in the book...including 'criminals' and 'liars.' " At the time, it was about the most frightening and disorienting turn of events the couple had ever known. Today, the Cheeks understand that was the fun part. Their tuition in the lesson that No Matter How Bad Things Get, They Can Always Get Worse was administered this fall by doctors at Sharp Rees-Steely and the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York. In late September, the doctors at Rees-Steely diagnosed Bill with lung cancer. They told the 53-year-old, who has no health insurance, that he had just three months to live -- maybe six if he underwent chemotherapy. A week later, U.S. Attorney John L. Smith convinced a federal grand jury in New York to indict Bill on one count of violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 2512 (1) (a), a felony. "BILL CHEEK," the indictment read, "did knowingly and intentionally send through the mail and send in interstate commerce electronic, mechanical and other devices, knowing and having reason to know that the design of such devices rendered them primarily useful for the purpose of surreptitious interception of wire and electronic communications...." The good news? The charges against Cindy have been dropped. The bad news? Bill appeared to have a big decision to make. Because of a darkly ironic scheduling conflict, the dying man had not one but two appointments to keep last Tuesday. The first was here in San Diego, where Bill was scheduled to undergo his first bout of chemotherapy at Sharp Rees-Steely in Linda Vista at 8:00 a.m. The second was in Brooklyn, where at 6:30 a.m. San Diego time Bill was expected to enter his plea in The United States of America vs. Bill Cheek (CR-99-0914). The U.S. Attorney's office, which was informed of Bill's diagnosis and prognosis several days before the Grand Jury indicted him, sent the San Diego man a get-well-soon card of sorts. In an October 4 letter, the U.S. Attorney's office informed Bill that if he failed to appear in the Brooklyn court at the appointed hour, "a warrant would be sought for your arrest." Bill's reaction? "Now," he says, "I'm pissed." Anyone familiar with the recent record of the New York City Police Department can perhaps understand why the cops there would be sensitive about having their two-way communications intercepted by civilians or anybody else. Critics of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, including the Reverend Al Sharpton and others, say Giuliani's campaign to clean up the city has involved more than a little bad behavior on the part of the cops, particularly toward blacks and Hispanics. The killing earlier this year of Amadou Diallo, the Guinean immigrant shot 41 times by four cops in the Bronx who mistook him for a rape suspect, as well as the torture of Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant raped with a plunger by a cop in Brooklyn, are just the most publicized examples of a trend, critics say, of growing police brutality in Fun City. Just this summer, a federal probe of the New York City Police Department led to calls for an outside watchdog to oversee its 39,000-officer police department. Naturally, the cops were against the idea. They don't want anybody monitoring their activities -- or their communications. Still, Bill and Cindy say they don't know why the authorities singled them out. The Cheeks' home-based business, COMMtronics Engineering, was not the only company in America selling devices that would decode the latest generation of police communications. At least two other outfits -- MFJ Enterprises and Optoelectronics -- were offering similar units over the Internet when the cops took the Cheeks down. But as the editor and publisher of World Scanner Report, and an outspoken critic of Federal Communications Commission regulations, Bill may have invited the feds to draw a bead on him. He was certainly no stranger to government-communications regulators. Twice in the 1980s, when he was editor of the 11 Meter Times and Journal, a publication for citizens band (CB) radio buffs that he published from home, Bill had run-ins with the FCC, which accused him of using his columns to encourage others to break the law. In 1988, Bill shut down the 11 Meter Times and Journal in what he says today was an unofficial deal with the feds, who told him they'd stop their investigation if he stopped publishing. Bill played ball, and the FCC kept its word. He and Cindy then concentrated on building up COMMtronics, which sold a variety of items of interest to scanner buffs and offered computer-consulting services. The Cheeks' arrest this spring came after undercover New York cops contacted the couple in late 1998 and early 1999 and bought five do-it-yourself kits over the Internet. Once assembled, the units allowed users to unscramble the encoded messages that pass between mainframe computers at police and fire departments and those onboard computers, or mobile data terminals (MDT), inside police cars. U.S. law enforcement began moving their communications to MDT back in the 1980s, in an effort to put information about surveillance, ongoing investigations, and other sensitive matters out of earshot of eavesdropping criminals. The transmissions still went out across the airwaves, but to anyone listening in on a regular police scanner, the encoded signals sounded like "a buzzsaw or musical notes without a melody," Bill says. "That sound is really the data." The move to MDT posed a challenge that scanner enthusiasts like Bill took up with gusto. Using parts readily available at Radio Shack, they built devices known as "data decoder interfaces," simple circuits that translated the analog MDT signals the scanner received into digital signals a computer could use. For radio buffs who didn't want to build their own, the Cheeks offered a fully assembled and tested interface with a 3.5-inch floppy disk containing the software for $48, delivered. "It's a passive device," says Bill. "It just takes those analog signals, shaves the curve off them, and makes them square. That's all it does." When the decoder and scanner were hooked up to a computer loaded with the right software -- software anonymously written but widely available around the Internet -- users' computer screens would begin filling up with the unencoded text of the intercepted transmissions. The NYC cops and the U.S. Attorney say that's illegal. The Cheeks say that's hogwash. The couple says that because MDT communications are encoded rather than encrypted -- a distinction that they say makes all the difference -- devices like the decoder are legal. They cite a 1996 case, U.S. vs. Larry Gass, where a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that any government radio communication that was not encrypted was, in Bill's words, "fair game for the public." "Well, MDT signals are not encrypted. They are broadcast 'in the clear,' in terms of computer-talk," Bill says. (Phillip Katowitz, Bill's court-appointed public defender in New York, did not return a call seeking comment on the case. "Don't take it personally," Bill says. "He doesn't call me back either.") Believing their arrest was the result of a simple mistake, a mistake that quickly would be corrected if they just talked to the NYC cops, the Cheeks agreed to play ball with the prosecutors during the days following their arrest. In retrospect, they say, that was probably a mistake. "We knew we didn't have enough money to fight the thing, so we just thought that if we cooperated, we could clear things up," says Bill. "In fact, one of the prosecutors told us that it would just be best if we didn't contact the press." Over the next few months, Bill kept his friends and acquaintances apprised of his case through e-mail. Over the weeks, the missives telegraphed the couple's increasing confidence that the issue would be cleared up and that things would get better. Unfortunately, Bill and Cindy were wrong. In late April, Bill told the Reader by e-mail that, "The case has progressed to where our (newly assigned) NYC public defender seems to think the U.S. attorneys might drop the criminal side of the charges if we accept some sort of a civil injunction....whatever the hell that means." Then, Bill went quiet for several months. He was not feeling well, vague aches and a fever. He stopped selling the data decoder device, but he continued his computer-consulting work and hoped for a painless resolution to his legal ordeal. In early September, the Reader sent an e-mail to Cheek, asking him for an update on his case. He replied: Hi! And thanks for asking! Actually not much new. On June 21, Cindy and I went to New York for arraignment and then met with the U.S. attorney and two NYC cops.....who called us every name in the book..... including criminals and liars. After the meeting, our (worthless) public defender attorneys said the prosecutor was inclined to drop the charges, but the two NYC dicks wanted more time.... That was on June 21, mind you. Unbeknownst to us until a few days before, there was another hearing held on August 18. (We didn't have to be present.) We were apprised of it a few days in advance and were told that the charges would be dropped contingent on a few easy-to-agree stipulations. The 18th turned out to be a hearing where the US attorney begged the judge for six more weeks of "excludable delay," a time period that doesn't count toward a "speedy trial." We had no choice but to go along with it. Other than that, about all else I can tell you is that the local Secret Service, who first arrested us, gathered the "evidence" and acted on behalf of the Eastern District of New York, feels that it is a shit case that never should have gone as far as it did. I am told that they told the U.S. attorneys as much, too. But we're still in limbo and know little else. Thanks for your interest. Kindest, Bill Then, three weeks later, Bill sent out the following e-mail to his friends and supporters. 9/30/99 Hi ya, Gang! Apologies for this impersonal newsgram format, but there are so many of you friends, associates, and solid acquaintances that I have to use this format to let you in on the latest. If you DON'T want to receive any more mailings, let me know and I'll take your address off my list. THE LEGAL SITUATION Least importantly, but relative to Cindy's and my legal situation, the Feds still think they may prosecute us, but they're not for sure. They've won several delays, so Cindy and I are still in a holding pattern. But like I said, that issue is not so very important anymore..... THE MEDICAL SITUATION The thing I need to tell you about is that recently I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The doctors gave me 3-4 months to live if I don't get treatment. With some relatively new chemotherapy, they said I might get an additional 4-6 months. The specific diagnosis is "Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer." As grim as that prognosis is, there are still rays of hope. Just today, a gentleman gave me a tip on a promising new drug for cancers like mine, now in clinical trials. I called the company and passed the initial criteria. Hopefully they'll get back to me soon. But that's why I am writing..... MY NUMBER 1 REQUEST No one knows it all, including the doctors. If any of you folks know of promising treatments for lung cancer, I will be most grateful to hear about it, whether medical or holistic. MY NUMBER 2 REQUEST If you know of nothing (as most of us don't), then I shall be grateful for your PRAYERS. I make this my #2 REQUEST primarily because God helps those who help themselves. I remain staunch in my belief that prayer and faith are the strongest forces in the universe. NOT EXACTLY A REQUEST.... As we are without medical insurance and other significant resources, it's been asked if we accept monetary contributions. Desperation has driven me to say "Yes." Close family and friends took it upon themselves to set up a special account for this purpose. Contributions can be sent directly to: Union Bank of California Acct# 0771354719 8359 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126 Attn: Rhonda Smith or Kevin Smith (619) 230-3800 payable to: Bill or Cindy Cheek or Cynthia Cheek trustee for William D. Cheek, Sr. or, if you prefer: Cindy Cheek PO Box 262478 San Diego, CA 92196 MY PRESENT CONDITION At the present time, I am still in pretty good condition overall. There is some pain, especially at night, and it's been weeks since I had a full night's sleep, but still.... I'm holding my own. My pain killers are Codeine #3 and Vicodan. They work pretty good, so far. WHAT'S COMING SOON I am to see an oncologist today to schedule the first round of chemotherapy and possibly radiation (not sure), but if I get accepted in a clinical trial, I'll get some kind of a chemotherapy and a chance at a trial drug. Between working for a living (which I still can and must do), attending to family issues, and settling my private affairs, obviously I won't be able to personally answer much e-mail. I will continue writing for MONITORING TIMES through the December issue, after which I'll take a leave of absence. I'll continue publishing the WORLD SCANNER REPORT through the end of the year, or as long as I am able. But my immediate objectives are to get into and through the chemotherapy; and to live what's left of my Life to the fullest. CONCLUSION.....FOR NOW My Life has totally changed over the past two weeks since I learned of the cancer. Things that used to matter a lot...DON'T. And some things that didn't seem to matter are now all-important. Time with my wife matters most. Time with radio and computers matters the least. Life certainly has taken a strange turn over the past two weeks. That's all for now. If you want to keep posted to the latest, you're already on my mailing list and will stay there unless you ask to be removed. Again, please include us in your prayers! Hugs to all, Bill & Cindy A week later, Bill was indicted by the federal grand jury. U.S. Attorney Smith, who only joined the federal prosecutors office last month from the Manhattan District Attorneys Office, denies the timing of the indictment had anything to do with Cheek's grim prognosis. Asked if it was at all unusual for prosecutors to indict a dying man, Smith said, "Honestly, I don't think that's something I can answer. I think you have to look at each case on a case-by-case basis. I think, you know, that factor alone didn't say what kind of case it was, what the other particular factors involved were." Bill called the indictment "flaky" and vowed to fight. At the last minute, Bill's attorney and the federal prosecutor agreed to a one-week delay in his arraignment. So at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 12, Bill and Cindy went to the Sharp Rees-Steely Clinic in Linda Vista and underwent his first chemotherapy treatment. The visit took longer than he expected. But afterward, Bill, who lost 25 pounds in recent months, felt hungrier than he had in weeks and "ate like a pig all day and didn't get nauseated like they said I might. "They say it will get worse and that I will lose my hair. But then they say some people have few if any side effects. I think I am the type to not get hit too hard. So here's hoping." This past Tuesday, Bill was expected to enter his plea. Given his condition, he was allowed to do so by telephone. Pleading guilty would have allowed him to concentrate on enjoying his final days with Cindy. But Bill planned to fight the charge anyway. Smith, the U.S. Attorney, refuses to predict when the case might go to trial. "It's difficult to say," he says. "You see how long this case took before we got to arraignment. In some cases, a date might be set two months later. In other cases, it might be nine months later." Which means Bill probably won't live long enough to clear his name. Which explains why Bill Cheek is "pissed." "The feds are playing dirty pool," he says, "damn dirty, and that happens to be a problem for the nation."