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Hacker pleads guilty to ID theft
Source: Agencies |
December 31, 2009, Thursday
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A 28-YEAR-OLD college dropout in the United States pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges that he stole tens of millions of payment card numbers by breaking into corporate computer systems.
Albert Gonzalez told a federal judge in Boston that he engineered electronic heists at companies including payment card processor Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven Inc and the Hannaford chain of New England grocery stores.
Gonzalez has previously pleaded guilty to computer break-ins at retailers TJX Cos Inc, BJ's Wholesale Club Inc and Barnes & Noble.
He faces 17 to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in March in the largest case of identity theft in US history. The two judges responsible for doling out the punishment have considerable leeway in sentencing.
"You face a considerable amount of time in jail as a result of your plea," US district Judge Douglas Woodlock told Gonzalez. "All aspects of your life are to be affected."
Gonzalez's attorney, Martin Weinberg, has asked for the judges to be lenient, saying his client suffers from Internet addiction, drug abuse and symptoms of a mild form of autism known as Asperger syndrome.
Gonzalez, who appeared in court wearing a beige prison uniform, told the judge that he had abused alcohol and illegal drugs for years. He mentioned marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ketamine and hallucinogenic mushrooms.
"It's one of the reasons to explain why a young man in his 20s did these things," Weinberg said.
Albert Gonzalez told a federal judge in Boston that he engineered electronic heists at companies including payment card processor Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven Inc and the Hannaford chain of New England grocery stores.
Gonzalez has previously pleaded guilty to computer break-ins at retailers TJX Cos Inc, BJ's Wholesale Club Inc and Barnes & Noble.
He faces 17 to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in March in the largest case of identity theft in US history. The two judges responsible for doling out the punishment have considerable leeway in sentencing.
"You face a considerable amount of time in jail as a result of your plea," US district Judge Douglas Woodlock told Gonzalez. "All aspects of your life are to be affected."
Gonzalez's attorney, Martin Weinberg, has asked for the judges to be lenient, saying his client suffers from Internet addiction, drug abuse and symptoms of a mild form of autism known as Asperger syndrome.
Gonzalez, who appeared in court wearing a beige prison uniform, told the judge that he had abused alcohol and illegal drugs for years. He mentioned marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ketamine and hallucinogenic mushrooms.
"It's one of the reasons to explain why a young man in his 20s did these things," Weinberg said.
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