Really there is not to much you can do here sadly. If the IME is flagged then any carrier even one like StreightTalk, or BoostMobile will be able to see this, and reject you. Another thing really to watch out for is who your buying phones from especially on cregslist and ebay. A good portion of them are stollen, or unpaid. It is always best practice to meet the seller at your preferred carrier of choice. They can run the IME to see what its status is. They do that for prospecting customers all the time. If the person your buying the phone from is not willing to meet at say a Sprint Store then they are likely selling stolen merchandise.As far as unlocking your phone goes there are companies that will do it for you, but that can often be a bit shady as well. The other way is to see if you can use a app that often can be downloaded, or used once the term agreement has been satisfied. Though in your case the phone is bad already. As sad as it is I would suggest buying a new one, and if your going the third party seller route best to meet at the store to verify.