Brader Yelverton, Computer Hacking, Louisiana 2015

A 24-year-old Thibodaux man pleaded guilty to a computer hacking scheme involving nearly 50 victims.

Brader Yelverton, 24, of Thibodaux, pled guilty today to a one-count Bill of Information charging him with unauthorized access of a protected computer.

According to court documents, between about 2013 and December 2015, Yelverton accessed the personal online accounts, including email, educational, social media, and ‘cloud’ storage accounts of at least 49 individuals without their knowledge or authorization.

All of the individuals whose accounts Yelverton accessed without authorization were individuals he knew. The vast majority of the victims were females, as well as several of their significant others.

Yelverton obtained access to an account by using publicly accessible information, or information he knew about the victim, to isolate the password for one of the accounts, usually his/her social media account. He then used the information contained in the social media account to obtain the password to other accounts of the victim.

Once he obtained access to the accounts, Yelverton changed the passwords so that he could continue to access them. After Yelverton obtained access to the accounts, he searched through them and obtained personal information of the victims, including, in some cases, sensitive photographs of the victims.

If convicted, Yelverton faces a maximum term of imprisonment of not more than five years in prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey set sentencing for November 26, 2016.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.

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