Miami, United States
A Florida teenager accused of planning a computer attack on accounts on Twitter of celebrities, and then swindling their followers by asking them for digital currency, he was sentenced to three years in a juvenile prison following an agreement with the prosecution, authorities reported.
The Florida Prosecutor’s Office announced the deal Tuesday at case of Graham Ivan Clark, 18, described as the intellectual author of the July 2020 global “Bit-Con” hack of the Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, among others.
The State Attorney of the Hillsborough County, Andrew Warren, Said Clark, who was 17 when he was charged, would spend three years in a juvenile prison followed by three years of parole, the maximum allowed by the Florida Juvenile Delinquency Act.
If Clark violates the terms of his parole, he could face a minimum sentence of 10 years in an adult prison.
The computer attack, Which resulted in federal charges against three people, consisted of taking control of the accounts of these celebrities and asking their thousands or millions of followers to send bitcoins to a certain account, promising to double their money.
“He hijacked the accounts of famous people, but the money he stole came from normal, hardworking people,” Warren said.
“Graham Clark must be held accountable for this crime and other potential scammers must see that there are consequences.”
Warren added that the “goal, with respect to any child, whenever possible, is for them to learn the lesson without their future being destroyed” and therefore offers a rehabilitation opportunity. The case was investigated by federal authorities, but Clark was turned over to those in the state of Florida because he was a minor at the time.
According to the prosecution, Clark used his access to Twitter’s internal systems to hijack the accounts of several companies and celebrities in a scheme that led to the theft of about $ 100,000. The cyber attack has affected at least 130 accounts, including that of Biden when he was a presidential candidate.