An 18-year-old hacker who took to the streets in 2020 through a massive rift and hacked into several high-end Twitter accounts to solicit bitcoin transactions has agreed to serve three years in prison for his actions.
Graham Ivan Clark, of Florida, was 17 years old at the time of the July burglary, during which he took over a number of master accounts, including those of Joe Biden, Bill Gates and Kim Kardashian West.
After accessing it, Clark tweeted a link to a bitcoin address and wrote “all bitcoin sent to our address below will be doubled!” According to court documents, Clark earned more than $ 100,000 from the scheme, which his lawyers have since returned to.
Clark gained access to the accounts after convincing an employee on Twitter that he worked in the information technology division, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The incident was a major security breach for the social network, which forced all verified accounts to send tweets for several hours while it worked to secure the platform. Clark, who was a senior in high school at the time, was arrested several days later.
As part of a deal, Clark pleaded guilty to organized fraud – which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison. He was sentenced as a ‘juvenile offender’ and, according to the Times, will serve three years in the juvenile adult prison, followed by three years of probation.
He may qualify to spend part of his time in a boot camp alternative to juvenile delinquency. During that time, he will not have access to electronic devices without supervision or using social media. The time he has spent in prison for the past eight months will apply from time to time.
“Graham Clark must be held accountable for the crime, and other potential fraudsters out there must see the consequences,” Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren told the Tampa Bay Times. “In this case, we could deliver the consequences while realizing that our goal with any child is to let them learn their lesson without destroying their future.”
Two other young men have also been charged with hijacking – Mason Sheppard, from the United Kingdom, and Nima Fazeli, from Orlando. Their business continued.