Longest-ever US Hacking Sentence — Russian Lawmaker’s Son Gets 27 Years In Prison

Short Bytes: Roman Seleznev, a Russian hacker and son of Russian MP Valery Seleznev, has been sentenced to 27 years in credit card case. He was accused of hitting more than 3,700 businesses and causing more than $169 million in damages. US Attorney Annette Hayes called it a bad day for hackers, MP Valery Seleznev labelled it as an abduction.

The Russian hacker, Roman Seleznev aka Track2, was arrested in Maldives in 2014. He was caught with more than 1.7 million credit card numbers and large stacks of cash. He was accused of hacking into the computers of businesses. Seleznev was convicted on 38 counts, according to Ars Technica, including the likes of wire fraud, widespread identity theft, damage to protected computers, etc.

Recently, Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison and convicted of hacking into point-of-sale PCs and causing more than $169 million in damages. According to the prosecutors, the hacking campaign of Seleznev hit more than 3,700 businesses.

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The government law enforcement authorities asked for 30 years of prison time, so the awarded sentence is pretty close to that. According to the New York Times, it is the “longest sentence handed down for hacking-related charges in the United States.”

It should be noted that Seleznev is the son of Valery Seleznev, a Russian Parliament member and an ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Valery Seleznev has said that the US has “kidnapped” his son and the sentence was “passed by man-eaters.” He also called the 27-year-prison sentence a life sentence as his son won’t be able to survive these much years in prison.

seleznev hacker — Online tutorial posted online by Roman Seleznev on how to steal credit card data (Image: AP)

Seleznev’s trail took place in Seattle, which was the location of many targeted businesses. He wrote an 11-page letter to the federal court, which was published by the New York Times.

“Please understand I was a desperate child who grew into a desperate man,” he wrote in the letter. “I want to repay for my wrongdoing and make things as right as humanly possible.”

On the other hand, US Attorney Annette Hayes called it a bad day for hackers around the world.

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