The Florida teenager who took control of well-known Twitter accounts last year has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a three-year prison sentence, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The 18-year-old hacked accounts including Apple’s, Bill Gates’, and Joe Biden’s.
Paperwork filed Monday in Hillsborough circuit court indicates that Graham Ivan Clark has agreed to serve three years in prison, followed by three years probation.
The agreement will allow Clark, 18, to be sentenced as a “youthful offender.” He may be eligible to serve some of his time in a military-style boot camp.
The hacker invaded several Twitter accounts with the same message last year:
We are giving back to our community. We support Bitcoin and we believe you should too!
All Bitcoin sent to our address below will be sent back to you doubled! Only going for the next 30 minutes.
The scheme generated at least $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. At that time, Twitter blocked all verified accounts from tweeting until they could solve the breach.
Clark was 17 years old in July 2020 and was arrested days later at his home in Hillsborough County.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, “the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found that he [Clark] accessed Twitter’s systems by convincing an employee he worked in the company’s information technology department. He then managed to access the company’s customer service portal.”
Clark was charged in state court because state law is allowed to try a minor as an adult in a financial fraud case. Two others from the United Kingdom were also charged with federal crimes as part of the hack.
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