A United States District Court sentenced a 28-year-old computer hacker to 20 years in prison after pleading “guilty” to charges of orchestrating one of the largest credit and debit card data theft in history.
US District Judge Patti Saris, in his order, said that Albert Gonzalez will spend 15 to 25 years in prison after he confessed of the crime and reached for an agreement with the government prosecutors.
The judge rendered the decision after the convicted hacker asked for an apology to his family and the companies that were affected by his wrong doings. The firms, banks, and insurers said that they have lost more than $200 million due to the scheme.
Earlier, Gonzalez, who is a former federal informant, said that he masterminded the scheme to break into the networks of major companies including BJ’s Wholesale Club, Barnes & Noble, TJX Cos., and Office Max.
“I did not do it out of greed. I did it because I can’t stop myself from my pursuit and my addiction to the Internet. I blame nobody but myself,” Gonzalez said during the promulgation of the case.
According to court documents, Gonzalez was able to steal around $2.8 million after he stole several account numbers of credit and debit card owners. He said that he used the money to buy a condominium unit in Miami, Rolex watches, and a Tiffany ring for his girlfriend.
With the help of their laptops, Gozalez and two other foreigners, tapped into the wireless signals of the retailers before installing “sniffer programs” that would help them gather credit card numbers.
The trio would then sell the stolen account numbers to other people overseas.
Gonzalez, also known as “soupnazi” in the online community, started hacking computers since 2003 where he was first arrested. He then became an informant to the Secret Service and help them trace other hackers trying to push through their network.
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