Wired.com:
A legally blind Massachusetts phone hacker was sentenced Friday to over 11 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea on computer intrusion and witness intimidation charges earlier this year.
Teenage Hacker Is Blind, Brash and in the Crosshairs of the FBI
Guilty Plea: Blind Hacker Admits Harassment, Eavesdropping, Fraud ...
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You know, I had several people accuse me of not reading the article, now it's, to quote V.... "my turn".
Why is it that NOBODY pointed out in the article how AT&T can tell the FBI what to do? Since when does AT&T own our Justice Department?
"When the FBI caught up with him more than a year later, cybercrime agent Allyn Lynd offered to make him a confidential informant, but called off the deal when AT&T discovered that Weigman was still manipulating the phone company."
Isn't that funny how the power to dictate who can, or cannot be, an informant is made by a corporation rather than a government entity? I'd like to know what wiretap info AT&T has on our own FBI that makes our FBI subordinate to AT&T.
...and to think Madoff's pathetic lawyer thought he should get 12
Dial tones of the lambs.
What an a**wipe. Aided and abetted by family members. I'll bet they liked the swag he charged to other people, too. Keep him away from computers in prison. Just remember, disabled (sometimes a real misnomer) people are human beings, not objects to be pitied, and human beings committing crimes come from all walks of life. Sometimes I wonder if there isn't a "criminal gene."
He should have worked for the Bush administration - everything he did would be legal.
Listen to the audio of him setting someone up. It is horrifying. It's really disturbing.
That's not really fair. People who are blind and suffer other disabilities are not given much opportunity. This guy was just being pragmatic about getting somewhere by taking advantage of a society that doesn't particularly care about people like him. The sentence was almost certainly not handed down by a judge who understands living with disabilities.
oh give me a break.....the guy sent a swat team to a girls house who wouldn't have phone sex with him.....and continually harassed the people investigating his case.
He may have a disability but that doesn't mean he's not bound by the same laws as everyone else.......and on top of that the FBI offered him a job!!!!!
and he blew that opportunity because he couldn't keep him self from hacking for longer than 72 hours
but nice try....read the article next time
What a crock of sh*it! I'll bet if the jerk were to have done this to you, you'd be singing a different song.
I always enjoy reading about the little guy sticking it to the man. I wish we had thousands more Weigman's out there.
It's obvious that you didn't actually read this article.
And just think, what the Telco's do to you, are far worse than this man ever did. Weigman never harmed anyone, at best, he was acting like a cretin. But then, so does AT&T. Why are they allowed to violate federal law? For example, you do realize that in order for AT&T to purchase Bellsouth, they had to agree to offer services independent of each other. They never did it. They violated Congressional legislation, which last time I checked, is pretty much federal law.
What's more, they spy on everything you and I do. If you really think your private conversations are private, I have a wake-up call for you to answer. Also, the Telco's can charge you for things you never had, or calls you never made, and nobody will go after them for that. I am proof of that as I have a single months "regular phone bill" of more than $600 from AT&T. They refuse to send me a listing of the charges. I refuse to pay. The Public Service Commission refuses to do anything about it because they claim I am being uncooperative with AT&T for failing to work out a payment arrangement. In other words, they take AT&T's side of the story without so much as an investigation.
Seriously. It's so VERY obvious you didn't read the article.
Next time, do.
I read the entire article, what did he do wrong? At best, he committed the act of harassment by harassing Mr. Smith. Funny, and very curious name isn't it? Seems everyone in a federal court case are always a "Smith" or "Jones", never an "Andrejuski" or "Silva", which are as American as the previous 2 names.
For the third time, read before you post. This isn't a "little guy sticking it to the man". This is an ego-tripping, power-hungry brat putting lives at risk and stealing identities.
How was he putting lives at risk? I just gotta hear this grandiose delusion that is running around in your head.
Yep. I bet you'd feel even better if he stole your credit card info to buy computers and electronics or used your info to open up phone service that you'd get billed for. This guy wasn't stealing bread to feed his family or self. This wasn't victimless. This is just crime.
Funny you said that, my credit card has been stolen, TWICE in the last 5 years. By legitimate companies. Seems some of their overeager employees wanted to make a commission by signing me up for goods and services I didn't want. Even after contacting one company, I still kept getting billed even tho they had claimed to have taken me out of the system. I asked them why they couldn't simply block my card, lol, they said the system was not setup to reject anyone's cards. DUH!! That's the problem right there.
And I'm still waiting on VISA to explain to me how someone with only my first initial and last name, and zip code can run up hundreds of dollars in billings when the so-called "mandatory" information like street address, name as appears on card, and security code were not used.
"Uhhh, we depend on the merchants to follow our rules, uhhhh, we are so sorry you had this trouble, uhhhh, we'll send you a new card out right away."
He should have taken the offer to be an informant... turn that talent into something good. Being able to hack is a talent, too bad he used it for fake police calls -- total waste of resource. Playing with fire.
Black Hat Anarchist
He showed up at the home of the man he was harassing? Not too terribly bright. He's plenty scary. Wonder if he can make calls from prison on a pay phone? Uh-oh.
Oh my god. This kid is/was something else. The audio is chilling. 9 years is not nearly enough, it just gives him time to think of more devious hacks. They should really revoke his right to use a phone or computer.
That sounds like a million dollar movie script to me. I'm sure the kid will make out just fine financially.
Leonardo Dicaprio in "Catch me if you can"....
Exactly. That's the first one that came to mind!
Usless he's in a state (like New York) that doesn't allow a criminal to profit by selling their story.
Yea I was kinda wondering about that. What about after they get out?
It sounds like this kid was given at least one chance to straighten up and, not only blew the chance, he just upped his game. He has a talent without smarts to go with it. Maybe he can get an education behind bars,
I can't say what I really think about this guy. HuffPo won't post it. If he was this way blind, think what he could be like with vision
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First Posted: 06-29-09 10:41 PM | Updated: 06-29-09 10:45 PM