14 DAY TRIAL // The Fappening nude leak scandal has finally come to an end after the fourth hacker involved in the stealing of celebrity nudes got sentenced to eight months in prison by a federal judge at a US district court in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
George Garofano, 26, previously pleaded guilty in April, after being charged with breaking into the accounts of a total of 240 iCloud users and stealing their files.
Some of his targets included US celebrities who stored nude and X-rated photos in the cloud, with Garofano extracting the content. The prosecution claims that he shared the photos with several other individuals, and in some cases, he sold the pictures to other hackers involved in the scheme.
“Mr Garofano’s offense was a serious one. He illegally hacked into his victims’ online accounts, invaded their privacy, and stole their personal information, including private and intimate photos. He did not engage in this conduct on just one occasion. He engaged in this conduct 240 times over the course of 18 months,” prosecutors said according to The Guardian.
“In committing this offense, Mr Garofano acted in complete and utter disregard for the impact on his victims’ lives.”
All Fappening hackers now in prison
On the other hand, Garofano’s lawyer says the hacker “accepted responsibility. “There is nothing to suggest that he would ever engage in this or any other criminal conduct in the future,” Richard Lynch said.
Prosecutors requested a sentence of up to 16 months in prison, but the judge ordered him to spend only eight months in jail and three years of supervised release.
The three other hackers that were involved in the Fappening saga have also been sent to prison, with a maximum sentence of 18 months.
Among the Fappening victims, some of the most notable are Jennifer Lawrence, Miley Cyrus, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, and McKayla Maroney.