The man behind the largest theft of credit cards in U.S. history, Albert Gonzalez said in a statement that he cyber theft $200 million not because of money greed but because of ‘his inability to stop his pursuit and his internet addiction.’ The Miami cyberthief, who masterminded the largest theft, was sentenced to 20 years on Thursday in Boston federal court for his role in breaking into the computer systems of major retailers to steal millions in their card numbers.
Gonzalez, 28, apologized for hacking into the networks of TJX Cos., BJ’s Wholesale Club, Dave & Buster’s and others, under pseudonyms such as “soupnazi’’ and “segvec,’’ at the court before his family. During his years of crime, Gonzalez spend $2.8 million to buy a Miami condo, a car, Rolex watches and a Tiffany ring for his girlfriend. Gonzalez’s Miami attorney said the parents were unaware their son hoard the cash in their yard. The sentence was announced by US District Court Judge Patti Saris, one of the longest sentences ever imposed for computer crime or identity theft. He was also fined $25,000 and still faces compensation charges that could be in the tens of millions of dollars.
Prosecutors told the judge Gonzalez should receive 25 years because he mistreated millions of people. His attorney, Martin Weinberg, confronted that estimation and offered verification that his client suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday again by a different judge in Boston in a New Jersey case involving the theft of card numbers from the Scarsborough, Maine based Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain, 7-Eleven and Heartland.