SanDisk Cruzer Blade 16GB write protected error

I just bought a Cruzer flash drive from Walmart for $15 and was able to use it for about five minutes tops, having written something like 200MB to it before it went into write protected status and now it will not let me do anything with the drive.

Now there are personal files on there that I cannot remove by either deleting them or even reformatting the drive, so no chance of taking it back to Walmart for a refund and letting some clerk have access to my personal information.

You people are criminals for knowingly putting a defective product on the market.