Founder
Lincoln, Nebraska native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who founded Pen-Link in 1987 after building pen-register automation software for the Lincoln Police Department in the early 1980s. He sold a portion of the company to employees in 2007, remained president, and was fully bought out upon retiring in 2013.
Reporting documented PenLink supplying ICE and DHS with Webloc location tracking and Tangles OSINT, letting agents follow phones and social accounts without a warrant. Flatwater Free Press reported ICE signed a $2.3 million contract to use the two tools, which were described as deployed during high-profile immigration crackdowns in cities like Minneapolis.
According to the EFF, Pen-Link filed a 'reverse' public-records lawsuit in late 2024 against the San Joaquin County (CA) Sheriff's Office to block release of its contracts, claiming its product names and prices were trade secrets and citing terms that purport to bar customers from disclosing use of its technology without the company's consent. EFF intervened, and a 2025 settlement forced disclosure — records showed the Sheriff paid $180,000 for a two-year subscription to the Tangles Web Intelligence Platform.