Convict nabbed for cheating on drug test
Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 23, 2003
A suspicious move and fizzling sound during a urine sample for a drug test Tuesday tipped county court services staff off to a device that cheats the test, and the offender wound up back in jail.
The device, called a &uot;Whizzinator,&uot; has a fake genital attached to an elastic waistband. A plastic bag containing urine is connected to the mock organ by a tube. The convict was pressing the bag, hidden under his shirt, to squeeze out the urine, which he later admitted was from somebody else. But the strange sound caused by air escaping the device attracted the attention of probation officer supervising the test.
The 22-year old man was on probation because of a conviction for fleeing a police officer. He was given a one-year stayed jail sentence contingent on fulfillilng the terms of his probation. One of the conditions was to have regular drug tests, and Judge James Broberg ordered the first test immediately after the sentencing. The man was apparently anticipating the test, and arrived in the courtroom with the device under his pants.
The offender was promptly moved into the jail to serve his time.
According to the court services office, three Whizzinators have been seized by law-enforcement officers in the county since last summer, but this was the first time they found a device when it was actually being used.
A Whizzinator costs about $150 and is sold on the Internet, according to court services. Using the device results in the revocation of release from jail, but sale or simple possession is not regulated under current statutes.