New York man Conor Brian Fitzpatrick has been sentenced to three years in prison for his creation and operation of BreachForums, a notorious online marketplace for cybercriminals.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Fitzpatrick personally profited from the sale of stolen information, including private personal data and commercial data. The DOJ also highlighted that Fitzpatrick possessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) as part of his activities on the forum.
The BreachForums was established following the shutdown of RaidForums by law enforcement. It quickly became one of the world’s largest English language hacking forums, with over 330,000 members. The platform traded in stolen information, including access to high-profile database breaches containing sensitive personal and commercial data.
Fitzpatrick, aged 22 from Peekskill, New York, pleaded guilty to access device conspiracy, access device solicitation, and possession of child sexual abuse material. In addition to the prison sentence, Fitzpatrick agreed to forfeit over one hundred domain names, electronic devices used in the scheme, and cryptocurrency derived from his criminal activities.
The sentencing comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated Fitzpatrick’s previous sentence of time served, which was only 17 days. The appeals court remanded the case for resentencing, leading to today’s three-year sentence.
Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division emphasized that assisting others in profiting from cybercrimes will result in federal prison sentences. The FBI has been instrumental in dismantling criminal marketplaces like BreachForums and pursuing those who run these platforms.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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