Corporate Hacking Conviction Rocks Plano

A Plano man was convicted of conspiring to hack into his former employer’s computer network, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman and U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña.

Michael Musacchio, 61, was found guilty of one felony count of conspiracy to make unauthorized access to a protected computer and two substantive felony counts of hacking. Each count of conviction carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to trial testimony and exhibits, Musacchio, who was the president of Exel Transportation Services from 2002 to 2004, left the company to form a competing business, Total Transportation Services. Two other former Exel employees, Joseph Roy Brown and John Michael Kelly, also joined Musacchio’s new company.

Between 2004 and 2006, Musacchio, Brown, and Kelly allegedly hacked into Exel’s computer system to obtain confidential business information and use it to benefit themselves and their new employer. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against the three men in 2010, with Brown and Kelly entering guilty pleas in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The investigation, conducted by the FBI Dallas Field Office, marked the first of its kind by the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, and the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Linda Groves and Candina Heath, along with Trial Attorney Rick Green, prosecuted the case. Musacchio is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis.

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