1998-02-17 -- Lloyd,
Timothy -- Indictment -- News Release
Former chief computer
network program designer arraigned for alleged $10 million computer
"bomb"
NEWARK -- A former
chief computer network program designer from Delaware was arraigned
this morning for allegedly unleashing a $10 million programming "bomb"
20 days after his dismissal that deleted all the design and production
programs of a New Jersey-based manufacturer of high-tech measurement
and control instruments used by NASA and the U.S. Navy, U.S. Attorney
Faith S. Hochberg announced.
The case is believed
to be one of the most expensive computer sabotage cases in U.S. Secret
Service history, according to C. Danny Spriggs, special agent in charge
of the U.S. Secret Service's Philadelphia Office.
Timothy Allen Lloyd,
(DOB 1967-10-16), of Wilmington, a former computer network programmer
for Omega Engineering Corp. ("Omega"), a Bridgeport, Gloucester County,
New Jersey corporation with offices in Stamford, Connecticut, and branches
around the world, was arraigned before U.S. District Judge William H.
Walls.
Judge Walls scheduled
Lloyd's trial for April 20. 1998 and set a $25,000 secured bond, according
to Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Grady O'Malley.
A two-count Indictment,
returned Jan. 28, 1998 by a Camden Federal Grand Jury, alleges that,
on July 30, 1996, Lloyd intentionally caused irreparable damage to Omega's
computer system by activating a "bomb" that permanently deleted all
of the company's sophisticated software programs.
The sabotage occurred
on or about July 30, 1996. Lloyd had been terminated from Omega on July
10, after working for the company for approximately 11 years. The Indictment
also reflects that the sabotage resulted in a loss to Omega of at least
$10 million in sales and contracts.
Lloyd is also charged,
in Count Two of the Indictment, with transporting interstate approximately
$50,000 worth of computer equipment stolen from Omega to his Delaware
residence.
Lloyd faces a maximum
of five years in federal prison on Count One and 10 years on Count Two.
Each count carries a maximum fine from $250,000 to twice the loss or
gain from the crime. If convicted, Lloyd could also be ordered to make
restitution.
An Indictment is
a formal charge made by a grand jury, a body of 16 to 23 citizens, Hochberg
noted. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and neither persons under
investigation nor their attorneys have the right to be present. A grand
jury may vote an Indictment if 12 or more jurors find probable cause
to believe that the defendant has committed the crime or crimes charged.
Despite Indictment,
every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt following a trial at which the defendant has
all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal
law.
Under the Sentencing
Guidelines, Judge Walls would, upon conviction, determine the actual
sentence based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and
characteristics of the offense and the defendant's criminal history,
if any, Hochberg said.
Hochberg credited
Special Agents of the Secret Service in Philadelphia under the direction
of Spriggs, for developing the case against Lloyd.
The Government
is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney O'Malley, senior litigation
counsel in the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Newark.
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