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Texas hacker pleads guilty to 7 charges of unlawfully obtaining access to computers belonging to the U.S. Postal Service, the State of Texas, the Canadian Department of Defence and the private sector
ARLINGTON, VA - Karla W. Corcoran, Inspector General, United States Postal Service (USPS) announced today that on December 6, 2000, Robert Russell Sanford pled guilty in District Court of Dallas County, Texas, to six felony charges of breach of computer security and one felony charge of third degree aggravated theft. Sanford, a member of the “HV2K” hacking group, pled guilty to unlawfully obtaining access to computers belonging to the USPS, the State of Texas, the Canadian Department of Defence and Glinn Publishing Company of Milwaukee, WI, between November 1999 and January 2000 and depriving owners and users from their use of these systems.
Sanford,18, is a resident of Irving, TX. Another member of “HV2K”, a Canadian juvenile, entered a pre-trial diversion program in Halifax, Nova Scotia, earlier this year for computer activity related to these offenses.
Sanford was sentenced to two years in prison, on each of the six charges for breach of computer security, and 10 years on the theft charge. The prison sentences were suspended and Sanford was placed on five years supervised probation. Sanford was also ordered to pay $45,856.46 in restitution to the victims of his hacking. As a condition of his probation, Sanford was also required to obtain a high school diploma or graduate equivalency degree, submit to random urinalysis, and participate in community service. Sanford was also restricted in his future use of computers.
Ms. Corcoran stated that these convictions, the first of their kind affecting Postal Service computers, were the result of a joint investigation involving the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service, and the USPS Office of the Inspector General.
Assistant District Attorney Bart Bevers, Criminal District Attorney’s Office, Dallas, County, Texas handled the prosecution of this case.
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