A federal judge approved the warrant March 9 in a case against Dante Dears, a founding member of the San Diego-based Pimpin' Hoes Daily gang.
FBI agents attempted to access the contents of Dears' phone, a Samsung SGH-T679, but had no luck with the device's pattern-screen lock.
Dante Dears is a founding member of the San Diego-based Pimpin' Hoes Daily gang
Technicians at the FBI Regional Computer Forensics Lab in Southern California apparently entered the incorrect pattern so many times that the phone locked.
Unlocking the phone at that point required Dears' Google email address and accompanying password, but Dears refused to hand over the information.
FBI agents have not been able to unlock Dears' Samsung SGH-T679
The FBI could dismantle the phone and extract its contents, experts suggest, but not without running the risk of losing valuable data, which explains why the agency has resorted to serving Google with the warrant.
The 13-page warrant asks Google for Dears' email and contact list information, and any search terms, webpage history, GPS data and text message sent or received by Dears between June 1, 2011 and January 17, 2012.
Google says it does not comment on specific cases but issued the following statement to Ars Technica:
'Like all law-abiding companies, we comply with valid legal process. Whenever we receive a request we make sure it meets both the letter and spirit of the law before complying.'
Dears was imprisoned in 2005 for his role as a founder of Pimpin' Hoes Daily. He was released in 2009 but violated his parole three times and served another year-and-a-half in prison, according to records.
Upon release in 2011, Dears continued his 'telephone pimping' with the help of his Android phone, according to an FBI informant.
Dears, according to the agent, also used his phone to send text messages.
Shortly after sending texts, the agent said, women would arrive at Dears' apartment to hand him money.
When confronted, Dears handed the phone over to his parole agent but refused to unlock the device.
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