[imagesource: Poopsenders.com]

The people behind Poopsenders.com have lived in the shadows for 14 years, while sending packages filled with disturbingly realistic imitation poop to whoever their customers deem deserving.

That’s a lot of fake faeces flung around the US mail system.

VICE tells the story of Sara Pruiksma, who received a package with something inside that looked like a “muddy, poopy pie” during a particularly gruelling local election cycle in which she was campaigning.

It came with a taunting card that read: “YOU HAVE BEEN POOPED ON / Want to know by whom???” and on the flip side (that forced the awful smell to be released), “We’ll never tell….www.poopsenders.com.”

Pruiksma is just one of the many victims of Poopsenders.com, with the site suggesting other potential targets like “your ex,” “your mean boss” or “the teacher that gave your son/daughter a poor grade”.

For a quart of “cow poop” the starting price is $17,95 plus $10 shipping and handling – that’s close to R450 in total.

You can also send “elephant” and “gorilla” varieties, and some fun ones like the poop pat above with additional candy hearts for $49,95 (around R770) on sale.

The site has covered all the possible questions one might ask, with “is it real poop?” being the number one:

“Only the mad scientist that packs this stuff in the back room knows for sure and he wouldn’t tell us, but we do know this, it really smells bad back there, he is mixing up shit, and he does visit the local dairy farm and zoo about twice a week […] We can assure you that it looks nasty and really stinks. It will get the point across to your intended victim.”

Ah yes, very reassuring.

It has been dubbed “the ultimate gag gift”, but more people see it more as a slap in the face:

“The message [from] the people who sent it was, ‘This is what we think of you. We can get something like this into your home,’” said Pruiksma, who felt particularly vulnerable because she was pregnant at the time.

“It crushed us. We shut down after that.”

The company sends the stinky packages with complete anonymity. Likewise, the proprietors of the site are also nameless and unknown.

Until federal prosecutors named a father and son duo believed to be behind Poopsenders.com as part of a legal proceeding called United States of America vs Poopsenders.com.

John Santonastaso and his son, John Edward Santonastaso, have been called out.

If you’re in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, you might want to block your nose.

They have been linked to an LLC called JD Infinity, incorporated located at the elder Santonastaso’s home address in Pittsburgh:

Two jobs were listed in JD Infinity’s PPP application, which may or may not involve sending fake shit through the mail.

After a series of subpoenas, multiple emails, phone calls, and physical notes left in order to interview both John Santonastasos for verification that they are the owners, the lawsuit was filed:

This moved US attorneys in the Western District of Pennsylvania to file United States of America v. Poopsenders, a suit asking a judge to issue a show cause order, which would force Poopsenders into court to explain why they ignored the subpoenas.

A memorandum filed in connection with the lawsuit notes that “Poopsenders goes to great lengths to obscure and conceal a physical address of its operations and identity of its personnel.”

Although the case didn’t go anywhere, the names behind those responsible Poopsenders may well be out there now.

There’s also a debate whether or not the service is legal. The site assures that it is, stating that “sending an anonymous non-hazardous package through the US Postal Service is indeed legal”.

But then customers have to agree to a waiver stating that they won’t use the site “to threaten, constitute harassment, violate a legal restraint, or any other unlawful purpose,” which is where it gets tricky.

People like Lilie Schoenack, a state former prosecutor, said that when she received a Poopsenders package while running for elected office in North Dakota she felt paralysed and harassed.

In that case, she argues that what Poopsenders does is a crime, and “they should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting harassment”.

[source:vice]