Threat Management

After Romania sentencing, charges against ‘Guccifer’ stack up in U.S.

After being sentenced to prison last week in a Romanian court, notorious hacker “Guccifer” now faces an indictment by a federal grand jury in the U.S.

On Thursday, the FBI announced new charges that were filed against Guccifer, whose real name is Marcel Lehel Lazar, in Alexandria, Va. – three counts of wire fraud, three counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer, an aggravated identity theft charge, and cyberstalking, obstruction of justice and notice of forfeiture charges.

There is no word yet on whether Lazar, 42, known for accessing the personal email accounts of celebrities and high-profile figures, including President George H.W. Bush's family and friends, will be extradited to the U.S. to face charges.

The hacker, who reportedly worked as a cab driver,  was arrested in January and pleaded guilty to hacking crimes last month in Romania. Last Friday, he was sentenced to four years in prison, with the possibility of serving up to seven years due to a three-year suspended sentence.

In his home country, Lazar was also ordered to pay 11,000 lei, or $3,400, in legal fees.

In the June indictment filed in Virginia, five unnamed victims of Lazar's hacking exploits were detailed. Among them was a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (whose Facebook account was allegedly accessed by Lazar), and a former U.S. Cabinet member (who lived in Virginia and allegedly had their AOL and Facebook accounts compromised).

Another victim, reported to be Dorothy Bush, was said to be a family member of “two former U.S. presidents,” in the indictment.

The emails Lazar obtained from Bush's family and friends entailed correspondence over a three-year period, from 2009 to 2012, most notably, leaked self-portaits of Bush showering and bathing, which were published by The Smoking Gun.

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