UK citizen extradited to US pleads responsible to 2020 Twitter hack

May 10, 2023 admin

A citizen of the UK who was extradited to New York from Spain final month has pleaded responsible to cyberstalking and computer hacking schemes, together with the 2020 hack of the social media web site Twitter, the U.S. Justice Division stated on Tuesday.

Joseph James O’Connor, 23, was charged in each North Dakota and New York.

The North Dakota case was transferred to the U.S. District Court docket for the Southern District of New York.

O’Connor pleaded responsible to expenses together with conspiring to commit computer intrusions, to commit wire fraud and to commit cash laundering.

O’Connor, who was extradited to the U.S. on April 26, can even forfeit greater than $794,000 and pay restitution to victims, prosecutors stated.

He faces a most of 77 years in jail at sentencing on June 23.

“O’Connor’s legal actions had been flagrant and malicious, and his conduct impacted a number of folks’s lives. He harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims, inflicting substantial emotional hurt,” Assistant Lawyer Normal Kenneth Well mannered stated in a press release.

Joseph James O’Connor is lead by Spanish cops as he leaves a courtroom after being arrested in reference to an alleged July 2020 Twitter hack in Estepona, Spain, on July 22, 2021.

REUTERS

Prosecutors stated the schemes included gaining unauthorized entry to social media accounts on Twitter in July 2020 in addition to a TikTok account in August 2020.

Alongside together with his co-conspirators, O’Connor stole at the least $794,000 value of cryptocurrency.

The July 2020 Twitter assault hijacked quite a lot of verified accounts, together with these of then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk, who now owns Twitter.

The 23-year-old, who faces a maximum of 77 years in prison, pleaded guilty to all of his charges including conspiring to commit computer intrusions, to commit wire fraud and to commit money laundering. — The 23-year-old, who faces a most of 77 years in jail, pleaded responsible to all of his expenses together with conspiring to commit pc intrusions, to commit wire fraud and to commit cash laundering.

The accounts of former President Barack Obama, actuality TV star Kim Kardashian, Invoice Gates, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Kanye West had been additionally hit.

The alleged hacker used the accounts to solicit digital forex, prompting Twitter to forestall some verified accounts from publishing messages for a number of hours till safety may very well be restored.

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