Phiber Optik pleads guilty

From: farber@central.cis.upenn.edu (David Farber) Subject: Two messages that may interest you re: "Phiber Optik," Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1993 17:31:39 -0500 The following appears on Newsbytes today. Newsbytes is a copyrighted commercial service which appears on GEnie, Compuserve, America OnLine, Newsnet, DIALOG, Clarinet and other networks. This story is posted here with the permission of the authors. ========================================================================== Phiber Optik Pleads Guilty 07/06/93 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Mark Abene, better known throughout the computer world by the hacker handle "Phiber Optik," plead guilty on July 2 in Federal Court to felony charges of conspiracy and unauthorized access to computers. Abene had been due to go to trial on these counts today. The plea by Abene, entered before Judge Louis Stanton in the Southern District of New York, admitted intrusion into computers owned by NYNEX, BellSouth, and Southwestern Bell. In his statement, Abene said that he had, in his actions, "never tried to damage any computer systems and, to my knowledge, I never have." In the course of the proceedings, Judge Stanton asked Abene a series of questions including: whether he understood the charges; whether he realized that, by pleading guilty to felony charges, he was exposing himself to possible loss of civil liberties such as the right to vote, sit on jury or hold public office; whether he realized that he could face a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $500,000; whether he understood that he could be required to make restitution for damages; and whether he was satisfied that he had received adequate legal counsel. He replied yes to all the above, but no to the question of whether he had been threatened or coerced by the United States Attorney's office to change his plea. Following the questioning, the judge asked Abene to say what he did. Abene responded by admitting that he had conspired with others to gain access to various computer systems, including those belonging NYNEX, BellSouth and Southwestern Bell; he had intercepted data on networks belonging to British Telcom and Tymnet; and that he had misrepresented himself to employees of phone companies to gain access to their systems. It was during these admissions that Abene said that he had never, to his knowledge, damaged any systems. At the end of Abene's statement, Assistant US Attorney Fishbein stated that Abene had fraudulently used computer accounts at New York University to access the remote computer systems. When asked by the judge to confirm Fishbein's assertion, Abene did. Judge Stanton then stated, "Mr. Abene is fully competent to make an informed plea in this case. He is knowledgeable of the charges against him and is aware of the possible consequences. I accept his guilty pleas." Judge Stanton then set sentencing for 9:30AM Wednesday, November 3rd. He asked Abene's attorney, Paul Ruskin, to insure that he do everything possible to cooperate with the probation staff in its development of a background of Abene for the sentencing procedure. Abene was then released on his own recognizance. Abene, together with Elias Ladopoulpos, a/k/a "Acid Phreak;" Paul Stira, "Scorpion;" John Lee, "Corrupt;" and Julio Fernandez, "Outlaw," were indicted on July 8, 1992. Ladopulous, Stira, Lee, and Fernandez previously plead guilty to charges relating to the indictment. Lee, the only one sentenced to date, has received a year and a day. Stira and Ladopoulos are scheduled for sentencing on July 23. In a prepared statement after court adjournment, United States Attorney Mary Jo White said that the investigation leading to the indictment was performed jointly by the United Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She praised both the Secret Service and FBI and thanked the Department of Justice Computer Crime Unit for "their important assistance in the investigation." Ruskin, Abene's attorney, told Newsbytes, "My personal opinion is that Mark has outgrown the phase in his life in which he performed the activities to which he confessed. He wants to use his considerable computer talents in manners that will be productive to society." Fishbein told Newsbytes, "The government is satisfied with the successful end to an important case. We hope that other people involved in illegal computer activities recognize that the Federal Government takes these cases very seriously." (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19930706) John F. McMullen mcmullen@mindvox.phantom.com Consultant, knxd@maristb.bitnet mcmullen@well.sf.ca.us Writer, 70210.172@compuserve.com mcmullen@panix.com Student, GEnie - nb.nyc mcmullen@eff.org Teacher Subject: Perhaps you could help From: mcmullen (John F. McMullen) Comments: Message-ID: Date: Tue, 06 Jul 93 16:43:10 EDT Organization: [Phantom Access] / the MindVox system I received this from Mark and, with his permission, am sending it to you in the hope that you might write something. John ==========================================================================

From panix.com!mark Tue Jul 6 15:31:07 1993 Return-Path: Received: from panix.com by mindvox.phantom.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #5) id m0oDIjD-0009STC; Tue, 6 Jul 93 15:30 EDT Received: by panix.com id AA14749 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for mcmullen); Tue, 6 Jul 1993 15:25:42 -0400 From: Phiber Optik Subject: Personal request...

Friends and fellow netters: I regret to inform you all that after much stress and anxiety, I decided the risk of loss to be too great, and have accepted a guilty plea in my case. All things considered, it seemed the only thing to do in order to avoid the possibility of a much harsher sentence in the event things did not go well during trial. I entered my plea on Friday, July 2nd, and am to be sentenced this November. I'm sending this letter to those who were under consideration for testifying in my favor as character/expert witnesses, and I would greatly appreciate if you could put together letters of recommendation attesting to my character. These letters would be considered by the judge and the probation department and would help me in my review for sentencing. If there are any questions, feel free to reply, or you can contact my lawyers, Paul Ruskin and Carl Hartmann, at 212/223-3330. Thank you, - -Mark. ------- End of Forwarded Message