Robert Saunders, Computer Tampering, California 2016

A San Jose resident has been sentenced to a year in custody and ordered to pay $124,003.79 in restitution for damaging the computers of a Silicon Valley company.

Robert Saunders, 30, of San Jose, pleaded guilty to one count of intentional damage to a protected computer on February 24, 2016.

According to court documents, Saunders accessed the computer network of a publicly-traded corporation based in San Mateo on numerous occasions between July 26, 2012, and August 31, 2012, without authorization and caused losses with an aggregate value of approximately $189,000.

Saunders admitted to changing information for a demonstration account belonging to a retail business customer of the corporation and posting offensive content in the corporation’s test account.

The corporation incurred approximately $189,000 in costs responding to the offense and restoring its systems.

Saunders was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on April 30, 2014. A Second Superseding Indictment was filed on February 24, 2016, charging him with one count of Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(A) and (c)(4)(B)(i); four counts of Obtaining Information from a Protected Computer without Authorization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2)(C) and (c)(2)(B)(i); and two counts of Possession of a Firearm in Interstate Commerce while Unlawfully Using A Controlled Substance, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). Pursuant to his plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to the intentional damage to a protected computer charge.

The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Lucy H. Koh, U.S. District Judge on June 1, 2016. Judge Koh also sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit property seized during the execution of a search warrant at his apartment, including computer equipment used to facilitate the offense.

FBI agents arrested the defendant on May 8, 2014, in Portland, Oregon. On September 12, 2014, he was ordered released on bond and remains out of custody. The defendant will begin serving the sentence on July 29, 2016.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle J. Kane and Susan Knight are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Melissa Dorton and Elise Etter. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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