https://trellis.law/doc/district/8373835/united-states-v-roc...The defendant plead nolo contendere (no contest) in 2014. Any activity between 2014 and 2019 was under supervision restrictions. Any use of Tor during that period would likely be an issue.
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You must not purchase, possess, have contact with, or otherwise use any device that can be connected to the Internet or used to store digital materials, other than that approved by the U.S. Probation Office. You must allow the U.S. Probation Office to install software on any approved device that is designed to record any and all activity on the device the defendant may use, including but not limited to capture of keystrokes, application information, Internet use history, e-mail correspondence, pictures, and chat conversations. You will pay any costs related to the monitoring of his authorized device and must advise anyone in the household that may use an authorized device in question that monitoring software has been installed. If you need access to an employer owned Internet-equipped device for employment purposes, you must advise your probation officer before using the device. The probation officer will ensure the employer is aware of the criminal history, and you must agree to use the device for work purposes only.
You must not attempt to remove, tamper with, or in any way circumvent the monitoring software, and must disclose all on-line account information, including usernames and passwords, to the U.S. Probation Office. If requested, you must provide a list of all software/hardware on your computer, as well as telephone, cable, or Internet service provider billing records, and any other information deemed necessary by the probation office to monitor your computer usage.
You must not access Tor or participate in any online social environment (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, Linkedin, Craigslist, FaceTime, WhatsApp, video/audio, etc.) or texting applications, which allow the user interaction unless pre-approved and authorized by the probation officer and Court.
His activity, no matter how it is framed, was in violation of the supervision orders.
Furthermore, he worked to circumvent the monitoring software in September of 2019 and had no internet activity recorded in October of 2019.
> 1. Back in 2014 this person committed a pretty grave computer offense, which was not at the time prosecuted.
> 2. Some time after that, he became a high-profile Tor relay operator.
> 3. Some time after that, he was asked to subvert those Tor relays by the DOJ.
It wasn't prosecuted because he plead no contest. After that, the use of Tor was in violation of supervision. I read #3 as "you're not running the monitoring software as required" which would subvert the exit nodes... but he shouldn't have been running them in the first place.