December 22, 2009
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News: CC Breach Mastermind Faces 17 to 25
Just as the friend of the infamous TJX masterminded credit card breach is sentenced to a mere two years in prison, the ringleader Albert Gonzalez sits in prison facing a 17 to 25 year sentence. Gonzalez who allegedly masterminded what is considered the largest credit card theft in the nation's history pleaded guilty to charges in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. Conditions of the plea agreement were that Gonzalez would not ask for a sentence of less than 17 years and prosecutors would not ask for more than 25 years. Gonzalez faces two indictments in New Jersey which charges that he and his constituents stole more than 130 million debit and credit cards when they hacked into several computer systems.
Gonzalez has a history of credit card theft as he began his criminal career when he was a high school student. After the FBI discovered his hacking activities at that time, they decided not to press charges and let Gonzalez off the hook. However, Gonzalez didn't learn his lesson. In 2003, Gonzalez became an informant for the Secret Service to avoid prosecution of his illegal actions in computer hacking; however, it appears he continued to work both sides of the law as he continued to be associated with his credit card cyber criminal buddies.
The attorney for Albert Gonzalez paints a much different picture of his client than that of court documents. During a telephone interview with Reuters, Rene Palomino, Attorney for Gonzalez, stated that Gonzalez was not a ringleader of anything. However, Gonzalez pleaded to credit card theft charges in two separate cases; in New York and Boston. Hacking activities of Gonzalez and his gang involved hacking into the systems of numerous large retailers including the 7-Eleven Inc. chain of convenience stores, supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers Co., and Heartland Payment Systems. Heartland is a New Jersey based company that processes electronic payments for thousands of stores and businesses.