Any way to remove a phone from an account with an outstanding bill?

Hey all,
I recently dropped my phone (which immediately died) and began searching for a new one. I wanted the LG Rumor2 through Sprint, but the price of $175 was a little too much for me, so I decided to look for alternate ways of acquiring the phone, and eventually bought one from a guy on craigslist.

Needless to say, it was a bad idea.

Here's the problem: while the actual phone works perfectly, it turns out that the guy who I bought it from has an outstanding bill from Sprint, and his account is frozen. As one can imagine, Sprint won't remove the phone from his plan unless he pays his bill, and the guy won't answer his phone when I call. Now, I called Sprint, and the customer service rep said that the phone would be removed once his account goes long enough without being paid, but I definitely can't wait months until that happens.

Do you experts have any idea as to how I can fix my problem?

Thanks!
Nathaniel

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Sometimes if you go to a 3rd party reseller (those little mobile shops that aren't labeled "Sprint" or "T-Mobile" but named something like "#1 Wireless" <-madeup) and agree to a 2 year contract, they will clear the ESN and activate the phone.

It's much harder to sweet talk a sprint rep into doing it than it is into getting one of those stores to do it. You do have to feign stupidity when you walk in though. You don't know the ESN is bad when you walk in.

Good luck and I hope you have a working phone soon

For anyone finding this in a search - the above is not a reliable method. Most cell phone carriers will not activate a phone that previously had an outstanding bill. A bad ESN is a bad ESN. Either you pay the bill or the previous person who owned the phone pays the bill.