14 DAY TRIAL // The teenager who took credit for hacking into Miley Cyrus' Gmail account and leaking risque photos of the underage actress was arrested last week for possession of unauthorized credit card information with intention to defraud.
According to the criminal complaint [pdf], Joshua Holly has been investigated by the FBI for various offenses including computer intrusion and fraud for more than two years.
In July 2008, several pictures showing then-15-year-old Miley Cyrus in a wet T-shirt in the shower, posing in her underwear, and baring her midriff, were posted on the Internet by a hacker calling himself TrainReq.
TrainReq, by his real name, Josh Holly, gave interviews to online publications and radio stations saying that the pictures came from Cyrus' Gmail account.
He claimed to have hacked into an administrative MySpace account which allowed him to see the passwords of other users, including that of Miley Cyrus. He then tried the same password on her email account and it worked.
After finding the pictures, Holly attempted to sell them to celebrity gossip sites, but because no one was interested in the offer, he released them for free.
In October 2008, the FBI executed a search warrant at Holly's residence in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from where they seized a computer, an iPhone and other storage devices.
According to a statement sworn in by FBI Special Agent Victor Rodriguez, during the search, Holly admitted that he was responsible for multiple computer intrusions and said that he even tackled with the idea of credit card fraud.
A forensic analysis of data found on his computer revealed the details of 200 credit cards which had already been used for fraud.
Chat logs of Holly admitting to buying the details from sellers of stolen credit card information were also found. They suggested that he agreed to make purchases with them on behalf of his suppliers.
According to the Nashville City Paper, Holly was arrested last Thursday, but didn't appear before a judge until Monday afternoon. He was released in the custody of his grandmother and is not allowed to use a computer or other Internet-connected device until his trial.