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U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney Western District of North Carolina Suite 1700, Carillon Building
227 West Trade Street Charlotte, North Carolina 28202 (704) 344-6222 FAX (704) 344-6629 |
Former Lance, Inc. Employee Sentenced to 24 Months and Ordered to Pay $194,609 Restitution in Computer Fraud Case
Charlotte, North Carolina - Robert J. Conrad, Jr., United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, and Chris Swecker, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Charlotte, announced that U.S. District Judge Richard Voorhees sentenced John Michael Sullivan, a former employee of Charlotte-based Lance, Inc., to 24 months’ imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release of three years. Sullivan was also ordered to pay restitution to Lance in the amount of $154,879 and restitution in the amount of $39,730 to Intermec Technologies Corporation. The sentence was imposed as the result of Sullivan’s conviction for knowingly causing the transmission of a computer code that disrupted and damaged a protected computer, that is, Lance’s computer link with its sales force across the nation. A protected computer is one used in interstate commerce or communication. Sullivan was convicted following a four-day trial in Charlotte in January 2000.
According to testimony presented at the trial, Sullivan was hired by Lance on September 23, 1996, to develop part of a computer program to be used by Lance’s national sales staff to collect sales, inventory, and delivery information and transmit it by means of a telephone modem to its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. Testimony revealed that Sullivan was demoted by Lance on May 8, 1998 because of poor performance on the job. On May 22, 1998, Sullivan resigned his position with Lance. His last day at Lance was June 2, 1998.
Jurors heard testimony that on May 12, 1998, Sullivan inserted part of a "code bomb" including a date trigger in the software which he wrote for hand held computers used by the company’s 2000 sales representatives in the field. Sullivan’s "logic" or code bomb was triggered at noon on September 23, 1998 and caused the field staff’s computers to become inoperative. Lance’s operations were disrupted for several days and its direct loss as a result of Sullivan’s conduct was more than $100,000.
The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act makes it a felony for anyone to "knowingly cause the transmission of a program, information, code or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally cause damage without authorization to a protected computer." According to the legislative history of the Act, the bill was designed to reflect the increase in computer crimes by "expanding in an appropriate but limited manner the types of misconduct involving computers that will be subject to federal prosecution."
The federal charges arose out of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was handled for the government by Assistant U.S. Attorneys C. Nicks Williams and B. Frederic Williams. Chris Swecker, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Field Office of FBI said, "We commend the Lance Corporation for referring this incident for investigation and prosecution, and hope this sentence provides a significant deterrent. Criminal activity of this nature will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted."
Sullivan will be allowed to self report to a designated federal facility when notified by U.S. Marshals.JOHN MICHAEL SULLIVAN
DOB: 3/24/61
4103 Alden Street
Indian Trail, N.C.
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