Computer hacker Albert Gonzalez deserves a quarter-century behind bars for leading a gang of cyberthieves who stole tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers from a transaction processor and several giant retail chains, federal prosecutors argued in a court filing Thursday night.
[T]he sentences would be the longest ever imposed in an identity theft case and among the longest imposed for a financial crime, which is appropriate because Gonzalez was at the center of the largest and most costly series of identity thefts in the nations history, wrote Boston-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann. He knowingly victimized a group of people whose population exceeded that of many major cities and some states.
The government also disputed a defense claim that Gonzalez suffers from Aspergers disorder, a mild form of autism that was grounds for a slightly reduced sentence in a previous hacking prosecution.
Gonzalez, 28, is set for sentencing next week on three indictments covering virtually every headline-making bank-card theft in recent years, including intrusions at TJX, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Office Max, Hannaford Brothers, 7-Eleven, and Heartland Payment Systems, which alone exposed magstripe data on 130 million credit and debit cards. He performed the intrusions while an informant for the Secret Service.
The hackers plea agreements contemplate a total prison term of between 17 and 25 years.
In December, Gonzalez's lawyer, Martin Weinberg, argued for the low end of the sentencing range, pointing out that Gonzalez cooperated with the government against his U.S. co-conspirators and two Eastern European hackers known as Grigg and Annex. Weinberg also argued that Gonzalez was driven by a psychological obsession with computers, submitting a report by a defense-paid psychiatrist that found the hackers behavior consistent with Aspergers disorder.
Over defense objections, a federal judge allowed a government-paid psychiatrist to also examine the hacker, and that expert came to a different conclusion, noting that Gonzalez appears to have no problems forging social and romantic relationships.
I found considerable evidence of Mr. Gonzalezs substance abuse and probable antisocial personality disorder, wrote Dr. Mark Mills, in a report (.pdf) also filed Thursday. I found no evidence of Aspergers disorder or internet addiction.
Heymann added that Gonzalezs leadership role also belies the Aspergers claim. Those with Aspergers are almost by definition not leaders, he wrote. Instead they are followers, often perceived as peripheral, isolated and strange.
To bolster its argument, the government included excerpts of chat logs showing Gonzalez coolly negotiating with Maksik, the Ukrainian carder who resold Gonzalez's stolen card data to the underground.
[T]he sentences would be the longest ever imposed in an identity theft case and among the longest imposed for a financial crime, which is appropriate because Gonzalez was at the center of the largest and most costly series of identity thefts in the nations history, wrote Boston-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann. He knowingly victimized a group of people whose population exceeded that of many major cities and some states.
The government also disputed a defense claim that Gonzalez suffers from Aspergers disorder, a mild form of autism that was grounds for a slightly reduced sentence in a previous hacking prosecution.
Gonzalez, 28, is set for sentencing next week on three indictments covering virtually every headline-making bank-card theft in recent years, including intrusions at TJX, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Office Max, Hannaford Brothers, 7-Eleven, and Heartland Payment Systems, which alone exposed magstripe data on 130 million credit and debit cards. He performed the intrusions while an informant for the Secret Service.
The hackers plea agreements contemplate a total prison term of between 17 and 25 years.
In December, Gonzalez's lawyer, Martin Weinberg, argued for the low end of the sentencing range, pointing out that Gonzalez cooperated with the government against his U.S. co-conspirators and two Eastern European hackers known as Grigg and Annex. Weinberg also argued that Gonzalez was driven by a psychological obsession with computers, submitting a report by a defense-paid psychiatrist that found the hackers behavior consistent with Aspergers disorder.
Over defense objections, a federal judge allowed a government-paid psychiatrist to also examine the hacker, and that expert came to a different conclusion, noting that Gonzalez appears to have no problems forging social and romantic relationships.
I found considerable evidence of Mr. Gonzalezs substance abuse and probable antisocial personality disorder, wrote Dr. Mark Mills, in a report (.pdf) also filed Thursday. I found no evidence of Aspergers disorder or internet addiction.
Heymann added that Gonzalezs leadership role also belies the Aspergers claim. Those with Aspergers are almost by definition not leaders, he wrote. Instead they are followers, often perceived as peripheral, isolated and strange.
To bolster its argument, the government included excerpts of chat logs showing Gonzalez coolly negotiating with Maksik, the Ukrainian carder who resold Gonzalez's stolen card data to the underground.
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