Guy A. Lewis, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced today that a jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida in Miami found Herbert Pierre-Louis guilty of two counts of knowingly sending a computer virus to cause damage to computers used in interstate commerce. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 20, 2001, at 4:30 p.m. before United States District Judge Alan S. Gold. Pierre-Louis faces a maximum sentence of three and a half years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and mandatory restitution.

This was the first federal computer virus case to go to trial in the Southern District of Florida, and only the second in the nation, brought under 18 U.S.C. Section 1030. This statute makes it a federal crime to send a computer virus which causes at least $5,000 in damage.

The evidence at trial established that Pierre-Louis sent a computer virus from his home in Broward County to four locations of Purity Wholesale Grocers, Inc. of Boca Raton, Florida. The virus was sent to Buffalo, New York, Hopkins, Minnesota, Tacoma, Washington, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In both Buffalo and Hopkins, the virus put Purity’s computer system out of operation for several days and ultimately cost the company over $75,000. Purity is one of the six largest privately held companies in Florida.

At the time Pierre-Louis sent the virus on June 18, 1998, he worked as a computer hardware technician for Purity in Boca Raton. Pierre-Louis used confidential passwords to access and place the virus at critical locations within Purity’s computer system. Pierre-Louis had been reprimanded by his supervisor for work related problems ten days before the virus was transmitted.

"We must vigorously prosecute those individuals who violate federal laws that are intended to protect the South Florida business community," said U.S. Attorney Guy A. Lewis. Lewis noted that sabotage to business assets whether they are real property or computer systems is a serious matter that the federal government must pursue in this time when computers are becoming more and more important to South Florida’s businesses.

Mr. Lewis commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Boscovich and Kirk Ogrosky.

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