Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

LulzSec's Raynaldo Rivera, a.k.a. 'neuron,' Gets One-Year Prison Term

Posted by Soulskill on from the finally-caught-up-to-him dept.

hypnosec writes "Raynaldo Rivera, who went by the online moniker 'neuron', has been sentenced to a one-year prison term, 13 months of home detention, 1,000 hours of community service and has been ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution. Rivera pleaded guilty in October 2012 to charges of conspiring to cause damage to a protected computer after participating in the attack on Sony Pictures in 2011. The court documents note that the main motive of the Lulzsec hacking collective, and offshoot of Anonymous, during its two-month hacking rampage and attacks on corporate and government entities like the Sony Pictures, was to see the 'raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy.'"

16 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution

    So, after all the rest of this stuff is over with, how does
    anyone seriously expect him to pay this? Or is this just another
    one of those "utterly destroy his life to make an example out
    of him" scenarios?

    1. Re:so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or is this just another one of those "utterly destroy his life to make an example out of him" scenarios?

      Yes, pretty much.

      On one hand, this is Sony here, a colossal bunch of assholes.

      On the other hand, that doesn't mean you get to be online jerks. It may be worth the effort to show the little douchebags that the lulz are on them.

    2. Re:so... by space_jake · · Score: 2

      Identity theft obviously...

    3. Re:so... by intermodal · · Score: 2

      That's exactly what this is.

      --
      In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
    4. Re:so... by SirGarlon · · Score: 2

      Expecting him to pay is not the only reason to order $600K in damages. For example, Sony may gain some kind of financial advantage (tax or similar) from being able to say they have a $600K uncollectable debt instead of $600K in unplanned IT expenses. (I Am Not an Accountant)

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    5. Re:so... by ebno-10db · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It may be worth the effort to show the little douchebags that the lulz are on them.

      Not so many years ago I would have agreed with you. After the financial crisis, and the government bending over backwards to ignore criminal behavior, or worse rewarding the criminals with our money, I no longer feel that way. The whole idea of justice is a joke, especially in financial crimes (and what 'neuron' did is strictly financial damage). I don't defend anything he did, but until people in the financial sector pay a proportional penalty, or any penalty, it's not justice. I'd be just as happy if he got away with it.

      Nor am I some sort of kid indulging in a nihilistic "it's all rigged" rant. For many years I had more faith in the "system", knowing full well it was far from perfect. I've reached the point where I no longer believe that, and it's more because the system has changed than because I have. Search on almost anything written by William K. Black. He's been there and done that. He was a mucky muck in the OCC (one of our numerous bank regulating agencies) when the S&L crisis hit. He was instrumental in getting over 1000 criminal convictions, and establishing the case law for control fraud, in a scandal that was a pittance compared to the recent financial crisis. He knows what control fraud looks like, and that's what the financial crisis was in spades.

    6. Re:so... by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 2

      He can declare bankruptcy and not have to pay this.

  2. Sure, in this case by intermodal · · Score: 2

    In this particular case, I can't particularly complain. Even without computer-specific laws, I'd consider this to be criminal mischief. Truly stunning though when compared to Aaron Swartz's situation...

    --
    In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  3. $600,000 by pr0nbot · · Score: 2

    $600,000 is basically a sentence to a life of slavery isn't it? I don't know how much he could reasonably expect to pay back in a year; presumably even less than otherwise given a criminal record. $5K? $10K? But I suppose if that's the assessment of the damage he caused, how he's going to pay it back is immaterial.

    How do these kinds of damages even work? No one's going to loan him that kind of money, so presumably the damaged party is going to have to collect over a period of decades?

    1. Re:$600,000 by nonsequitor · · Score: 3, Informative

      Unlike student loans, this debt can be cancelled out by declaring bankruptcy. He will lose everything he has first though, assuming he doesn't have assets valued at $600k

    2. Re:$600,000 by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You can create shell companies with other people as board members and put any wealth not already spoken for by the court in there. It becomes untouchable. Pay yourself a small salary and re-invest the rest into the corporate accounts. They can only garnish a certain percentage of your official salary. All the while you live off the corporate accounts.

      --
      Good-bye
    3. Re:$600,000 by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Restitution in criminal cases is not dischargable by bankruptcy.

      So basically he's a slave until the restitution is made.

      http://coloradobankruptcyguide.com/940/can-i-get-rid-of-my-criminal-restitution-obligation-in-bankruptcy/

    4. Re:$600,000 by HeckRuler · · Score: 2

      I had some distant family that got screwed over by a lawyer. He botched the will. The father died, the kids were assholes, and the mother was left with nothing. So she sued. The lawyer did whatever shenanigans lawyers can do to delay things while he consolidated his money and bought a fancy house and car. By the time the case went forward and locked down his assets he hardly had anything of worth other than the house and car. He loses the case and they come for his money, but they're not allowed to touch his home or his means of transport. So she ended up getting nothing.

      But this is the sort of game that rich people who can afford lawyers play. The laws apply to Raynaldo because he can't afford the legal footwork to dance around those laws.

    5. Re:$600,000 by spartacus_prime · · Score: 3, Informative

      Bankruptcy attorney here. Without reaching the merits of discharging criminal restitution, you do not necessarily run the risk of losing everything you have in a Chapter 7 (and you definitely don't in a Chapter 13). From my experience, the only time an asset is in jeopardy is if there is equity and your attorney didn't take the requisite exemptions. This rarely happens, however -- most people get to keep their houses (usually underwater), their cars, and most other things. YMMV however.

      --
      If you can read this, it means that I bothered to log in.
  4. Re:How much did Sony have to pay by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 2

    I think I get your point, but Sony paid somewhere around 5.75 million it looks like. The interesting thing you'll note from the article is that if you have enough money you can pay a state to stop its investigation into your case.

    http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/sony-rootkit-settlement-states-reaches-575m-558

    --
    http://www.rootstrikers.org/
  5. Re:How much did Sony have to pay by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 2

    Is Sony a powerless individual? Yeah, I'm still really angry about that too. Companies should not be able to get away with crimes when an individual would be severely punished for the same crime.