Connor Fitzpatrick, creator and administrator of the cybercrime website BreachForums, was sentenced Friday to 20 years of supervised release.
A federal judge announced that the first two years of his 20-year sentence will be served as home confinement. Judgment documents released Friday. Fitzpatrick will not be able to access the internet for the first year of his home confinement and will have to register on the state’s sex offender registry.
Fitzpatrick, 21, was initially arrested on March 15, 2023 in Peekskill, New York, at the request of his family, and admitted to owning and operating Bleach Forum under the nickname “Pom Pom Purin.” According to court records. He was released on $300,000 bail, but was charged with violating the terms of his pretrial release by using a computer without the required monitoring software and using a virtual private network (VPN) service. He was re-arrested on January 2 this year.
Fitzpatrick launched BreachForums in March 2022 after another popular cybercrime marketplace, RaidForums, was shut down by law enforcement.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia sought to jail Fitzpatrick for 188 months, or nearly 16 years, based on nearly 900 stolen databases containing more than 14 billion personal records. These databases were made available to members of the website BreachForums. According to court documents filed earlier this month.. Additionally, prosecutors said that at the time of his arrest, he “knowingly possessed approximately 26 video files containing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including videos depicting prepubescent minors.” ”
Fitzpatrick’s attorneys submitted their own sentencing recommendation memo under seal. Quote “Confidential and medical information that the public does not have a right to see under any other circumstances.”
Fitzpatrick pled guilty on July 13, 2023, to charges of access device fraud, solicitation to provide access devices, and conspiracy to possess child pornography, according to court records.
“By creating a platform for hackers and fraudsters to connect and conduct business, defendants were able to commit exponentially more crimes and more sophisticated crimes than Breach Forum members could commit alone.” ,” prosecutors wrote in a memo, adding: The criminal activities at BreachForum affected nearly every sector of American society. ”
Notable cases cited by prosecutors in the sentencing recommendation memo include data related to approximately 87,760 InfraGard members in December 2022, relating to the U.S.-based social media company’s 200 million users. records, and an incident in which 20 million user records of a management company were leaked. We will launch our background check service in January 2023. tens of thousands user’s Private health insurance informationincluding members of Congress in March 2023.
The sentencing recommendation memo also notes multiple instances in which Mr. Fitzpatrick acted as a facilitator in transactions involving stolen data, and in at least one case advised members of BreachForums on how to monetize stolen data. . In another instance, prosecutors said, Mr. Fitzpatrick told a forum user that he intended to provide falsified information to law enforcement, but “law enforcement never bothered to submit a legal request to the hacking forum.” “I wonder if he will do it? That’s hilarious,” he said, adding that he doubted it.
BreachForums was inactive for several months, but was revived in June 2023 by a former administrator who worked for Fitzpatrick, and the site quickly established itself as the top English-language cybercrime market. Re-established. That version of the site remains active.