ORR- Forty-two-year-old Josh Armbrust works in the cloud, the vast network of computer servers that provides internet-accessed storage, databases, software, analytics and intelligence to companies and individuals worldwide. If you have a Gmail account, share files using Dropbox, or stream movies via Netflix, you’re using services based in the cloud.
It’s a job he can do anywhere, and a couple of years ago he left the Twin Cities for the more peaceful, environs of the North Country, settling with his 73-year-old mother Judy in a four-bedroom home on a 26-acre tract on Hwy. 23 about three-and-a-half miles east of Orr.
“I moved up here because it’s nice and quiet and I love nature,” Armbrust told the Timberjay on Tuesday.
But Armbrust’s idyllic quiet was shattered last week at about 7 a.m. Wednesday, April 12 when a team of what he described as 15-20 FBI agents accompanied by an electronics-sniffing dog from the Hibbing Police Department executed a search warrant at his home. He said the agents said little about their reason for being there beyond indicating they were investigating the alleged theft of cryptocurrency from one of Armbrust’s former employers.
“They told me it’s like $5,000 of cryptocurrency,” Armbrust said. “I was very surprised. It’s crazy. I haven’t been charged with anything. I don’t have so much as a parking ticket. I’m talking to lawyers, but it’s really scary. They wouldn’t tell me much.”
An FBI spokesperson contacted via email by the Timberjay on Friday would only confirm that agents conducted a “court-authorized activity at a residence in the vicinity of Orr” and would not answer any questions posed about the nature or subject of the search. The Timberjay verified through the online federal court’s PACER system that no charges have been filed involving Armbrust, and neither the Minneapolis FBI or Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s office have posted anything to their websites regarding the search or possible charges.
St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jason Lukovsky confirmed that a deputy was placed on stand-by outside the residence but that the department was not involved in the search. Lukovsky also confirmed the general focus of the search.
“It was a cyber crime that they were investigating. I don’t know the extent of the warrant,” he said.
Armbrust said the number of agents involved was overwhelming.
“They came in like a bull in a china shop,” Armbrust said. “They were looking for everything. There’s no drugs, there’s no nothing. It just seemed like overkill. If they had just showed up with two people, I would have let them come in and do whatever they needed to do.”
While conducting the search, agents kept Armbrust and his mother, who has mobility issues, separated, a situation that caused the soft-spoken Armbrust some additional anxiety.
“They wouldn’t let me talk to her. I couldn’t even see if she was OK or anything,” Armbrust said. “I’m an only child. I take care of her. My dad’s dead. I’ll do anything to take care of her. She took care of me my whole life, so the least I can do is take care of her.”
Armbrust estimated the agents were there going through everything in the house for about six hours, finishing around 1 p.m.
“They made a mess,” he said.
Word of the search spread quickly after the Hibbing Police Department put up a post on Facebook featuring a picture of electronics search dog K9 Dottie alongside an FBI field vest.
“This morning we assisted the FBI with a search warrant,” the post said. “Dottie definitely earned her kibble today as there were easily 100 devices inside of the residence!”
Armbrust disputed that account.
“That’s not true,” he said. “I didn’t have like a ton of computer stuff. It’s like a few things that they took. They took some old flash drives that had nothing on them, so they’re welcome to those. They’re ones I’ve had forever that I probably was going to throw away anyway. I had a media server that had some movies on it, so they took that. They forced me to unlock my phone and they took my phone. I’m only talking to you now because I was able to get a new phone. But everything was backed up in the cloud.”
Armbrust’s means of livelihood is his computer, and he said he was allowed to keep his work computer after it was searched.
That Armbrust might have had a significant amount of computer equipment would hardly be a surprise. According to his LinkedIn profile, over the past 23 years Armbrust has worked in the computer industry as a technician, systems and software engineer, and most recently as a cloud security and operations engineer. He most recently began working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA as a cloud security consultant, a job of which he’s particularly proud. “I think they’re actually saving lives with the work they’re doing like predicting hurricanes and climate change and all that. It’s really important.”
Heavy handed?
Armbrust decried the “overkill” used for the search and said there were much better uses for the FBI’s resources.
“It just seems like all they care about is money. They don’t care about people,” he said. “It’s all about protecting big companies. Think about Indigenous women. I brought that up to them. I said there’s Indigenous women that are missing. You don’t do anything about that. But you’ll come knocking on my door for some petty whatever. I don’t get it, man. They could be doing so much good. They’re just not.”
It wouldn’t be the first time in recent months that federal law enforcement in the region has been seen as too heavy handed. The Timberjay has been reporting for months on the seemingly unjustified tasing of a local businessman in Voyageurs National Park by federal rangers there.
This turmoil in Armbrust’s life has come in the midst of trying to secure a visa to bring his fiancé to the U.S. from Columbia.
“I’ve been down there a bunch of times and she wants to come here,” he said. “She’s my true love, I guess.”
Armbrust said he’s talked with two attorneys about taking on his case, although the discussions have been limited as no charges have been filed and he has so little information.
“It’s really scary,” he said again. “I’m not some criminal mastermind or anything. I’m just some guy trying to live his life.”