Joe.My.God. LGBT News
CBS News reports:
Forty-four year-old Marcel Lehel Lazar, a Romanian hacker who calls himself “Guccifer,” has been sentenced to 52 months in prison. Lazar focused primarily on high-profile political figures — he is credited with uncovering Hillary Clinton’s private email address when he hacked Sidney Blumenthal’s email, and he also released the first self-portrait painted by former President George W. Bush.
Lazar faced a mandatory two-year sentence and federal prosecutors pressed for an additional two years. But he also faces a seven-year sentence in Romania, which he will serve before he serves his U.S. sentence. District Court Judge James Cacheris noted Lazar’s lack of remorse, but credited him with cooperating with the U.S. government.
FBI Director James Comey and other officials have said they do not believe his claims that he breached Clinton’s server. Officials say he is motivated by fame and not by monetary gain, and this makes it all the more difficult to believe that he would have breached Clinton’s server and not released any proof. His nickname, Lazar has said, combines “the style of Gucci and the light of Lucifer.”
More from the Washington Post:
“The extent of the harm caused by defendant’s conduct is incalculable,” federal prosecutors wrote in seeking a maximum penalty of 41/2 years under U.S. sentencing guidelines.
A maximum punishment “would also help address any false perception that unauthorized access of a computer is ever justified or rationalized as the cost of living in a wired society — or even worse, a crime to be celebrated,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maya D. Song wrote.
Prosecutors said a stern sentence could deter other violators. They cited the case of Guccifer 2.0, an individual or group of hackers whom U.S. officials say is tied to Russian intelligence services and who claimed credit for hacking the Democratic National Committee earlier this year.
From Reuters:
Lazar has said in interviews he breached Clinton’s private server at her home in Chappaqua, New York, but law enforcement and national security officials say that claim is meritless. Lazar is believed to have hacked into email accounts of about 100 victims between 2012 and 2014.
They include prominent political figures such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a relative of former President George W. Bush and Sidney Blumenthal, a former Clinton White House aide and an unofficial adviser to Clinton. Clinton is now the Democratic nominee for president.
Lazar leaked online memos Blumenthal sent Clinton that were addressed to her private email account, which was used during her time as secretary of state to conduct both personal and work business in lieu of a government account.
Clinton’s email arrangement, which became the subject of an FBI investigation, has drawn intense scrutiny from Republicans attempting to sow doubt about her honesty ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.