New Orleans – The U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser has announced that Gary Peter Simon, Jr., 56, a resident of Mandeville, Louisiana, has been charged with intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and recklessly causing damage resulting in the loss of more than $5,000 during one year. The charges stem from an alleged incident on October 21, 2018, where Simon is said to have accessed and attempted to access a protected computer belonging to the United States Department of Energy-Strategic Petroleum Reserve Office.
According to the bill of information, Simon’s unauthorized actions caused damage to the DOE that exceeded $5,000. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release after imprisonment, and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
U.S. Attorney Strasser emphasized that a bill of information is merely an accusation and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court. The investigation into this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, supervisor of the Public Corruption Unit, overseeing the prosecution.
Simon’s charges are in violation of 18 U.S.C. ”1030(a)(5)(B) and 1030(c)(4)(A), which pertain to unauthorized access to protected computers and reckless damage resulting from such actions.
This is not the first time Mandeville has made headlines for cybercrimes, as the case of Gary Peter Simon Jr. underscores the growing threat of computer hacking against critical national infrastructure.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Cybercrime|Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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