Sony hacking suspect smashes computers to get out of prosecution

A 23-year-old man suspected of helping to hack into Sony's PlayStation Network got out of being penalized for the crime by smashing his computers and making his hard drives disappear.

[SavageKuma]

Smart move. Purging the evidence to get away...

[WeAreLegion]

You'd think, but tampering with and/or destroying evidence can land you a LOT more jail time.

[SavageKuma]

he owns the stuff and without a proper search in America they have to go through proper procedures and that gives any smart criminal enough time to destroy evidence that they do not know about.

[MysticStrummer]

He didn't tamper with and/or destroy evidence. Obviously he felt those hard drives would have eventually been used as evidence or he wouldn't have gotten rid of them, but what he did wasn't tampering with evidence in the eyes of the law. It's not evidence until it's found and logged as such during a legal search.

[Lior]

your allowed to do anything you want to with your possessions

[raWfodog]

@Playbox360, MysticStrummer, and Lior

It is tampering even if it hasn't been officially logged in as evidence. His only defense would have been if he didn't know about the investigation. So that's why he's guilty of tampering with evidence and was sentenced to house arrest. But he probably figured better that than prison.

[raWfodog]

Tampering with evidence:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2...

http://www.criminaldefensel...

[Bimkoblerutso]

I'm not trying to sound like a douche here, but I got a good-humored chuckle out of the fact that a few of you thought that "tampering with/destroying evidence" constituted stealing confiscated evidence from the authorities and destroying it AFTER it had already been logged, like...Ocean's Eleven heist-style or something.

[raWfodog]

@Bimkoblerutso

I got a good-humored chuckle out of the fact that people disagreed with me about what constitutes tampering with evidence. Even after I supplied links to the actual statutes :)

[MysticStrummer]

@raWfodog - If you read the story you'll see he wasn't charged with tampering with evidence, so... yeah. They can't prove he tampered with anything having to do with the case. Evidence has to do with the case. Hence, he didn't tamper with evidence. He interfered with the investigation. That's not the same as evidence tampering.

EDIT - Just to be clear, they can't prove he did it so they didn't charge him with it.

[sikbeta]

What a genius move, sony and the feds can't do crap to him now lol

[Legion]

@raWfodog

Your links proved nothing. The second was only opinionated advice on the first.

When getting rid of a computer it is common practice to destroy hard drive. The damage to the cases themselves... well haven't we all been pissed off with our PC enough to want to do that?

Him being questioned and then later wanting to dispose of his PC does not constitute evidence tampering. Especially if said practice of destroying HD is common place. (which is)

Had he done it while the police were at the door and or bearing down on him... well then the case might be brought up.

They did not prosecute him for destruction of evidence because of the fact they could not.

He was sentenced for obstruction simply because he basically threw himself on the mercy of the court and his lawyer knew he was looking to get a slap on the wrist.

If he had actually fought the case then it would have cost a lot of money but he still would have been very favored to walk away... but at a much greater cost to him and a drawn out trial that would have possibly lost him his job.

[AuToFiRE]

Not even. Just like with drinking and driving, if you crash, its only a fine for leaving the scene of an accident, instead of losing your license plus jailtime.

Hacking isnt a misdemeanor anymore.

[Darrius Cole]

Committing Crime 101. First Day, First Lesson - Destroy the evidence.

The FBI practically let him go when they interviewed him without a warrant to search his computers. I have no doubt that his hard drives were wiped, scrubbed with magnets, torn apart, cut into pieces at the plates, burnt, and scattered within two hours after the FBI left his house.

You have to be an idiot to keep the evidence after the FBI lets you know that they are watching you. You don't have to be an smart criminal to know better than that.

[Minato-Namikaze]

the FBI has a 99% conviction rate for a reason

[Christopher]

That's the problem, Darrius, they have to have reasonable suspicion to get the warrant. In this case, they were in a no-win situation on approaching this without giving their hand away at the same time.

[TwistedMetal]

if they were watching him then they already got all the info of all his drives saved to their hardrives. he is already busted. why would someone hack sony anyways just seems dumb to do. japan doesnt do anything wrong. how about they hack some terrorists or companys with crap drm on there games or companies that make you pay for online play.

[Legion]

@Minato-Namikaze

Mainly due to the fact of people doing exactly what this boy did which was throw themselves at the mercy of the court in efforts to not have a lengthy trial. And knowing they will get little but house arrest and slaps on the wrist.

And the 99% rate is highly exaggerated.

"SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Convictions are obtained in just one of four FBI cases submitted for prosecution, according to a new study of Justice Department statistics.

From 1993 through 1997, the FBI referred 222,504 cases for prosecution. Only 27%, the worst mark among major federal law enforcement agencies, resulted in a conviction, said researchers at Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC." http://articles.latimes.com...

This was a long while ago.. but doubting they have improved to the point of 99%. Just because you read garbage on the internet doesn't make it fact. (note: you are reading this on the internet... check for yourself)

[FamilyGuy]

Maybe he was clean of the crime of hacking but scared of them finding under-aged porn on his hard drives lol

[BoNeSaW23]

Under age porn comment followed by a lol? Way to stay classy!

[FamilyGuy]

My sense of humor is very broad, I understand that many wouldn't find it funny though.

Morbid, sick jokes are some of the funniest to me.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

should of peed on it.
pcs hate pee.

[Majin-vegeta]

Wow he doesn't even have a GED?Lol what a loser.

[4lc4pon3]

thats a bs comment. I dont have a GED and I have a very high paying job as I have had for the last 17 years.

Ignorant comment

[Utalkin2me]

What is it that you do?

[SilentNegotiator]

No GED and he's the biggest crime boss in Chicago.

Respect.

[SilentNegotiator]

@Utalkin2me

He's in the protection business and distribution.

But seriously, let's see some elaboration. None of these users claiming to have dropped and made $X (some claiming 6 figures) have stated what they actually DO.

[nukeitall]

GED doesn't substitute for being an idiot.

Point being, hard work, detailed oriented and motivation then to outdo education. Now, education with all of the above is a sure winner combo, assuming the education is in something in demand.

[PurpHerbison]

Why would anybody ever tell someone on N4G what it is they actually do for a living? I am sure we have a decent amount of rich users, handful of poor, as well as a handful right in the middle.

[dale_denton]

Good Enough Degree

[Eyeco]

It's just an interesting topic on how someone can be successful without a GED or a Degree, I find it inspirational/ motivational that anyone can make a comfortable living if they have the plan and wit's, for years we're told that the only way you'll ever make a living is through education that's it, but that doesn't always work, my sister has a degree in biochemistry something like that and she's been unemployed for 4 years.

[Tapioca Cold]

No its not. He thinks people without geds are losers. Becsuse u dont have a job and a ged but a 'good' job doesnt mean he is wrong. Understand. Msybe you do need a ged.

[justrandom]

LOL Majin- I agree with you ALCAPONE.I dont have GED either,and I am manager where I work,all the workers I manage have their GED some couple of them have university education ,and they are almos all ignorants.I leave in Canada(im european by the way)Have nothing against canadians cause im also canadian myself,Ive had many years of experience in life and dont need GED.My life experience worths 1000s GEDs.
Well,ive been an immigrant for many years in different countries of Europe and by struggling=experience and finally met my canadian wife(doctor :) .Its not important how much people make but how they manage their money.Lot of people I know go in vaccation by paying with visa and then pay interest minimum monthly payment and they never get out of debts.
I always went in vaccation with my money,working hard money and at the end of the tunnel there was a light which right now I became manager with only working 3 months and the other workers about to get heart attack from jealousy.You have to care for the businees so the business care for you.Work more to get more money and not wanting more money to work more.Dippend of how everyone grew up what famly culture experience etc etc .its getting late .no offence tgo anyone.good night
What Im trying to say is that ...well lets leave vegeta draw a conclusion of wheather he should judge people by a piece of paper.have a nice day.

[SilentNegotiator]

"Why would anybody ever tell someone on N4G what it is they actually do for a living?"

When you make six-figures (and more importantly, brag about it), you don't shy away from telling people what your occupation is. Unless you're one of the most prolific prostitutes on the planet.

[MikeyDucati1]

I know people with degrees who are losers. So it really doesn't matter.

[SolDojo]

Same story. Got my GED at 17 after having problems in school, had my Associates at 20, make 60k a year and have never once been asked if I had a high school diploma or a college degree for the jobs I've done.

[jadenkorri]

Yes but having only a GED can be really bad, yes great you're successful, but lose your job, and you're screwed. High paying jobs usual requirements will be a college/university degree. They won't even look at you without it. I went to college with this one programmer, he was the best, why noone would hire him had the be the most idiot reason,"only GED" this guy was awesome. He took the cheapest programming course he could find. I know he worked on The Darkness 2 and recently the new Star Trek game. There have been a few xbox kinect games he has worked on too, congrats to him.

[MikeyDucati1]

@jadenkorri

Lol stop it man with the get yourself a college education PSA. If these members made it in life without taking the steps you took, so be it. Everyone thinks you gotta have a college education because hey, that's what society led us to believe. But that saying is so true, "its not what you know, its who you know". And the other famous one, "different strokes for different folks"

[ACESupERIC]

How stupid are you? I quit school in the 9th grade when I saw saw a kid get shot in the hallway. O. Perry walker 93-94 if I remember correctly for you fact checkers out there. Now I make almost 100 thousand a year with no h.s. diploma. Thats more than some college grads can say. Who's the loser now moron?

[BrunoM]

Same left high school on grade 11 do to health problems I had to fight cancer for a few years after didn't go back but The last 4 year when doing my taxes my net income is of 123.000 with out a high school. Diploma that's more than mannnyyyy and most people I know finished it and went on to collage and Un

[4lc4pon3]

i know a few people who are in major debt from college and dont even had a good job at all. Most of them are working 2 jobs to make ends meet. I quit school at 16 and never went back and I make roughly 65-75k per year. Its pathetic that you get these comments about how people who dont have a GED or diploma are losers YET I make good money where are most college grads cant find any work and your 75-100k in debt

No wonder most of the world is ignorant. to quick to judge

[Ron_Danger]

This quickly became the perfect comment thread for one of those "my step mom makes $4375 a week from her computer" spam comments!

[ACESupERIC]

I get 7 disagrees for stating facts but no one will elaborate?! F@#$&ng coward losers! This site is soooo full of trolls.

[Voozi]

What I want to know is, what do you guys even do for a living that nets you $65k-$100K per year without a HS diploma and/or college degree?

[torchic]

you go to school to learn and acquire skills, not for the diploma.

the kids at my college who go to school just so that they have a diploma are usually the ones who have trouble later on figuring out what to do with their lives.

I can't imagine being an engineer without having gone to school, like wow.

[ziggurcat]

@ 4LC4PON3:

"YET I make good money where are most college grads cant find any work and your 75-100k in debt"

*you're

"No wonder most of the world is ignorant. to quick to judge"

*too quick... if you had stayed in high school longer, you'd know the difference between to/too as well as your/you're. in fact, this is something you should have figured out in elementary school.

on topic:

what a coward.

[I_am_Batman]

I have studied mathematics, physics, technology, criminology and several martial arts all over the world and do not earn any money for protecting gotham city at all. But I'm rich anyway so who cares.

[Gamerjunki3]

@ ACESupERIC

https://yourlogicalfallacyi...

Yeah, that's why you have disagrees...

Your point will hold substance if you can provide valid data which demonstrates no correlation between qualifications and salaries.

[tommygunzII]

Income has a lot to do with where you are located. I'm 4 hours from DC, teachers there for example make 75k a year, but in my city teachers make 37k. Similar sized houses cost twice as much there as well.

[kneon]

Whether or not he finished high school doesn't tell you much about him. You don't know why he didn't finish.

I know phd's that I consider idiots, and I also know plenty of smart people that didn't make it through high school. Don't judge people on their education alone.

[ACESupERIC]

I'm a tankerman. I load and unload barges, ships, and trucks of oil over water. My base pay with no overtime is 87000 a year. Last year I topped 100000 with overtime but not by much. No h.s. diploma or college degree required although you do have to work in the field and get so many supervised transfers before you can go to tankerman school.

[kneon]

@ACESupERIC

Yup there are plenty of well paying jobs that don't require much formal education. But they usually do require skills of some kind and you need to be willing to do real work.

But in general a higher education leads to higher income provided you get a degree in something useful. I have degrees in computer science and physics and broke through $100,000/year almost 20 years ago.

[ACESupERIC]

@Gamerjunki3
My original argument was directed towards mejin vejeta because he or she implied that ur a loser without at least a GED. I and plenty of other successful people don't have diplomas or degrees. Does that make us losers? While I do know that higher education can lead to a higher paying job, it isn't a definite outcome. Just like not having a diploma or degree doesn't automatically mean you can't be successful and make a comfortable living. I know plenty of people with degrees who make less than me and plenty that make more. And if you want valid data, just research the average pay for merchant mariners. My job pays 330 a day. The boat captains at my workplace are almost 600 a day. And in the marine industry there is a very high percentage of highschool dropouts.

[justrandom]

I agree with you KNEON.Once i went to pick up my wife(she is a doctor)there was a patient there that had PHD SCIENCE etc you name it,he had studied all life and he wasnt capable of communicating like a normal person he seemed like dumb person ,no offence.So like you saying people shouldnt judge base on education.English is not my mother language before anyone jumps and says; oh you see you should have studied more years to know how to write.I couldnt study more years anyway had to migrate in different countries for a better life.Anyway,I love living in Canada ,it a country of oportunity.Lots of people born here do not appreciate this country.Before i forget,my sister in law which is educated like my wife she always looking for someone educated but never lucky always dissapointed.She has high standards ,well she is alone.I have a happy family kids.no problem moneywise cause im not greedy,i never forget who I was thats why im happy.I earn good money anyway because I worked for it and I earned it.
At my work many workers dont even say good morning or bye.that thing right there tells me they dont have future.when they do not know the basics of socialising.Life its philosofy and it will take thousands of pages for me to write so it would be wasted of time .Ive helped many people in my life but very few appreciated.
I gave up I will be very carefully before I help anyone else again.This world is filled with selfish mother fukers.have a good night everyone ,and please dont disagree cause I wont be able to sleep all night :)

[Gamerjunki3]

@ ACESupERIC

That's great, the fact is your original post was comparing yourself to college students, in which you said you earn more money than some, without possessing the necessary qualifications.

You were essentially suggesting that one may not need qualifications in order to possess a higher salary--that's a fair point, but don't use personal experience as your argument.

I just wanted you realise that the point you've established was anecdotal, and has no ground in order to be a compelling argument. I have no problem with your point, just your argument.

That doesn't mean you are wrong, but how you've conducted your argument was wrong.

To answer your question, no, possessing no qualifications doesn't make anyone a loser. If there was a job which provided 100K, I would not care what the job would entail.

I'm perfectly aware that qualifications don't mean a successful future, anyone in the UK will happily tell you that!

Hell, I have just dropped from college (that would be high school to you yankees I believe).

I was doing English, History, Philosophy and Politics. With no sense with what I wanted to do, compounded with the fact I was burnt out from writing so many essays--I left.

[Snookies12]

Not having a GED, degree, etc. doesn't make someone inherently less intelligent or a loser. I've seen plenty of people who have gone through college, yet can't seem to spell simple words correctly. Some people just don't have their GED, sometimes for reasons beyond their control. Does that make them losers? No, it just means that they haven't gotten something that states they've graduated. I believe the entire US school system is fundamentally flawed, but I won't get into that right now lol.

[ACESupERIC]

Being educated doesn't necessarily mean smart and vice versa. Too bad most people refuse to acknowledge this. There probably wouldn't be so many people unemployed in this country.

[justrandom]

On last comment before i go to bed.

I agree also with you Snookies12.I tell you something in many cases and specifically at my work,one of the workers with many years of education had to use the calculator to subtrac 5.00 dollars minus 2.99 I WAS SHOCKED.Einstein once said once the technology with become mainstream is the time stupidity will too.Brain is a muscle if you work it out it will expand,so lot of people doesnt use the brain and then they find themselves in a bad situation.
I was agains population control but now im PRO.And guess which people are going to get rid off firstÉ(my question mark dissapeared).Night and good luck to the dim ones :)

[BlaqMagiq24]

Neither does the rapper Nas and he makes more money than you

[Qrphe]

Everyone, N4G is not your personal blog, go talk about your life elsewhere.

[fourOeightshark]

I don't have a GED and i own a jewelry store.

[PeaSFor]

evidence tampering and destroying evidences is allowed in USA/UK?

what the hell, i know in canada its almost making you automatically guilty and is a charge by itself...

[LoveOfTheGame]

It's not evidence if they can't find it.

[Arai]

The fine of 250k itself is what made me raise an eye-brow.
When the estimated damage is more than $170 million, according to the report below.

The damage is done and they won't get that money back.

http://goo.gl/jYwT7

[ApolloTheBoss]

Shame. The bastard should have got what was coming to him.

[WeAreLegion]

Yeah...destroying evidence is an even bigger sentence.

[Darrius Cole]

That's a joke right?

If you got a worse sentence for destroying the evidence, then no one would ever destroy evidence.

If you want to catch criminals, you can't give them a chance to destroy the evidence.

[WeAreLegion]

It is widely known now that he destroyed the evidence. You can destroy it before you are arrested and convicted...but not after.

[MikeyDucati1]

Jesse and Mr. White would have suggested using magnets.

[TemplarDante]

Yo hacker.
Karma is a BITCH..
watch your back :)

[Max-Zorin]

He said ''Nope I am not getting locked up''.

[cleverusername]

Tales of the unexpected- Lamb to the slaughter!

[dredgewalker]

Smart move, unfortunately another criminal gets away. Though I do think that he'll now be monitored by the FBI on a daily basis since he'll be doing this again since. Hopefully the FBI doesn't mess things up again and get their evidence before it gets destroyed.

[PS3gamer4life]

FBI go hire him for a job hes not going to jail

[Hozi]

This is what I love about N4G...I see a juicy article and the moment I scroll down to the comments section it's always a big debate on who know's more about said subject....I got so accustomed to this that you all feel like classmates. Anyways, the job I do at the moment pays $6,500 monthly.Political ads and anim. commercials.

Note: I went to college and got my Diploma in Animation.

[xDHAV0K24x]

Did the right thing. I like gaming hackers. They should be employed more often and go legit in this industry

[Qrphe]

Geohotz was and probably wouldn't have had gotten a job if he hadn't hacked the PS3.

[InTheZoneAC]

destroying possible evidence, that'll get you time for sure

smart or dumb, these people don't think things through when times get tough..

[smashcrashbash]

Why are people on this article congratulating him for smashing evidence of a crime? Are you guys crazy?

[DarkBlood]

because the good guys dont crack the whip hard enough against the bad guys so they are being congrats

one or the other is being too soft and slow to a situation or at least thats how i think it goes anyways

[urwifeminder]

He needs to buy some new gear and get back on that bike and hack sony up.

[HurstDarkStar]

@smashcrashbash always commend the crafty, it's not easy getting out of tough situations like this you know..

[Soldierone]

So what about those comments where the FBI can supposedly still get information off the drives? Not true? Who woulda thought.

Next step is he will buy a new PC and the FBI will say it has child porn on it lol

[ThreshStar]

Forensics can sometimes get information back from damaged files, however it becomes a crapshoot as broken hard drives usually = broken information.

The kid was smart. He wasn't charged with any crimes, wasn't under a specific investigation - all that was shown was a search warrant. That doesn't even mean he's a criminal, it just means that Investigators are in THE PROCESS of finding a criminal.

By destroying POTENTIAL evidence, he prevents himself from being incriminated. If they knew he had the information without a shadow of a doubt, they would have issued an ARREST WARRANT, not a SEARCH WARRANT.

Therefore, he did not destroy "Evidence" because there was no indication of a "crime" just yet.

[arbitor365]

"Todd M. Miller, of Columbus, in the US state of Ohio, was sentenced on Thursday to a year on house arrest for obstructing a federal investigation and stymying an FBI investigation into the hack."

well lets hope, in that year, the FBI finds some good incriminating evidence on this loser.

[e-p-ayeaH]

He's still young and its highly probable that he regret it isnt an assassin were talking about here even that said 1 year of domestic prison its enough as a penalty.

If he commits the same type of act again then there should be no mercy on this guy with a 5 year sentence or something like that.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

Bro these hackers stole credit card info. Of course sony will not say it in public because complaints are confidential. What's to stop them from not getting info when they breached PSN? they are not saints. So imprisonment is suitable for them unless they could bring back what they stole which is highly unlikely.

[e-p-ayeaH]

With those hacking skills he could definitly get a job on security somewhere i suppose its sad to see people with so much talent being wasted on stuff like this.

[GraveLord]

Suspect?

Doing this he in a way admits he's guilty.

[Allowen]

He probably have stuff saved online some where. I bet he could not delete and destroy all the material .
A hacker at that level could probably start hacking again a large company in no time as soon he gets the hardware he needs.

[gigoran]

We are legion because we are many. We fear nothing... except when there is a slight chance one of us may be going to jail we will destroy everything in a frantic fit in order to stop getting our bums assaulted from prisoners 3 times our size.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

Just like some people said in this forum, destroying your computer somehow hints you are "guilty" of something. because if your not guilty, why hide something?? You know, it's acceptable they breached PSN, but what's not acceptable is that they stole some customers credit card info. I highly believe this is true, when you see a credit card info in front of you, temptation will sink in. So these hackers are the lowliest of all and should really be imprisoned.

[Bathyj]

Man, this thread has really gone off topic

[Adolph Fitler]

Hopefully the fag will get hit by a truck, while walking across the street, so justice can be served. He cost me weeks of my online gaming fixes going down, & he attacked the wrong thing, if he was trying to make some kind of point. I mean, he just got gamers angry with him mostly.
Anyway, he deserves some kind of nasty roundabout karma style justice for just being an annoying prick, that took down services & attacked us, the general gaming public that enjoy the PSN service, & cost Sony millions in downtime losses, for a point only he knows in his convoluted little head.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Um... Usually evidence tampering gets you additional punishment.

[kwyjibo]

Hi Feds, next time, start off with the fucking warrant if you want a conviction.

[isyourhouseonfire]

This story feels like its straight out of Mexico. "THEY WANT LA COMPUTA'? I SMASH LA COMPUTA!!"