A Pennsylvania man is going to prison after admitting in court that he tried to hire a hacker to erase his debt.
Zachary J. Landis placed an ad on Craiglist in March titled "Can You Hack???" according to WeLiveSecurity.com.
He was seeking someone to erase more than $16,000 in debt from restitution, fines and court costs in previous criminal convictions, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
However, the Derry Township Police Department spotted the ad and contacted the district attorney's office, which had a detective pose as a hacker. When the detective responded, Landis sent docket sheets from three court cases showing the debt he wanted erased.
Landis had asked the "hacker" to erase just part of the debt first, to prove he could do it, the DA's office said.
At one point in the negotiations, Landis sent the detective a screenshot of his computer. The image showed that Landis was logged into his Gmail account, which was then used to help identify him, WPMT, the local Fox station, reported.
He pleaded guilty to felony counts of computer trespass, unlawful use of a computer, and tampering with public records, and was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison.
The debt stems from several criminal cases, including more than $9,500 owed to a victim in a 2008 assault case as well as fines and court costs from two separate DUI convictions.
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