Hacker pleads guilty in Mass., charges pending in N.J.

Posted Aug 30th 2009 10:10AM by Tom Johansmeyer
Filed under: Law, Scandals, OfficeMax Inc (OMX)

Albert Gonzalez is calling it quits. Accused of masterminding the largest identity theft in the United States ever, he has agreed to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. Separate charges filed in New Jersey, however, remain.

The 28 year-old faces 15 to 25 years in prison and will forfeit $1.65 million and a Miami condo (in addition to $1.1 million already seized). If the judge accepts the terms, this would be the longest sentence ever recorded for a hacking case.

The data heist for which Gonzalez is notorious involved credit card numbers and other personal data stored at TJX Cos. (NYSE: TJX) and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), along with other national retail chains. Millions of dollars were consumed in fraudulent transactions. The data was taken by Gonzalez and accomplices as they drove around Miami with laptops -- on the prowl for unsecured networks.

Gonzalez was right under the government's nose. He was working as an informant in a different computer hacking investigation -- and using that data to further his own scams -- before his indictment (with 10 accomplices). The computer fraud and wire fraud charges included more than 40 million card numbers and also affected BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), and DSW (NYSE: DSW).

The settlement agreement would address New York (in addition to Massachusetts) but would leave the charges in New Jersey unresolved, which are potentially more severe.

Tags: Albert Gonzalez, barnes and noble, bjs, bjs wholesale club, bks, crime, dsw, identitiy theft, inthenews, massachusetts, new jersey, new york, officemax, omx, tjx, tjx companies

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-30-2009 @ 11:42AM

jason said...

I think all hackers even minor ones should get 5 years hard time in prison for the first offense. A repeat gets 10 years 3rd time 25 years at hard labor.Hackers are at least as asbad Hitler. why you ask?, self serving non-caring, disruptive life destroying marxists yep right up there with the worst.The bible says blessed are the peacemakers for they are the children of God. What is the definition of a hacker?

8-31-2009 @ 4:03PM

tomlongjr said...

5 years for each identity theft and he stole over 1 miilion cc numbers and sold them. Let see..... yep 5 million years in jail ought to about do it......

8-30-2009 @ 9:13PM

william lindblad said...

While these are non-violent crimes, the damage they do is extensive and at some point one of these fools is going to do something that will prove disruptive and dangerous. There are too many items that are out there - the power grid for example. When someone has this ability they will tend to use it for amusement purposes. The law and courts should not treat offenders kindly as examples have to be made.