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

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.'"

Comments

so...

[Anonymous Coward]

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?

Re:so...

[ebno-10db]

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.

Re:$600,000

[nonsequitor]

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

Re:$600,000

[spire3661]

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.

Re:$600,000

[the eric conspiracy]

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/

Re:$600,000

[spartacus_prime]

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.