International
Russian hacker slammed with 27-yr sentence by US court
27-year-old Russian hacker Roman Seleznev has been sentenced to 27 years in prison by a federal U.S. District Judge in a case of cybercrime.
The son of a member of the Russian Parliament was convicted for hacking into more than 500 U.S. businesses and stealing millions of credit card numbers, which he then sold on special websites.
The convict who has been handed the longest sentence ever in the U.S. for a cybercrime case was also ordered to pay nearly $170 million in restitution to the business and banks that were victims of his multiyear scheme.
However, Seleznev apologized to his victims and said he was remorseful for his crimes, and urged the judge to consider his medical problems.
Read also: RUSSIA: Supreme Court finally bans Jehovah’s Witness
“I plead, pray and beg your honor for mercy,” he said.
But Jones told Seleznev that the bombing in Morroco “was an invitation to right your wrongs and recognize you were given a second chance in life.” But instead, Jones said Seleznev “amassed a fortune” at the expense of hundreds of small businesses.
“You were driven by one goal: greed,” Jones said.
The sentencing of Seleznev is coming seven days after a Russian man linked to America’s 2016 election hacking was arrested in Barcelona on Friday, following a joint U.S.-Spanish operation.
36-year-old Pyotr Levashov described in U.S. court documents made public Monday as “one of the world’s most notorious criminal spammers” is said to be the head of a computer network that sends spam mails worldwide every year.
His arrest come after U.S. authorities announced that they are working to dismantle a global computer network that sent hundreds of millions of spam emails worldwide each year.
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