Defendant in celebrity hacker case admits guilt
Facing five years in jail, Majerczyk is accused of leaking nude photos of Oscar winning actress
An Illinois man accused of breaking into the Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts of celebrities
to obtain their private photos and videos has agreed to plead guilty to a felony computer hacking charge, prosecutors said on Friday.
Edward Majerczyk, 28, facing up to five years in prison, is the second man charged in a federal investigation into the leaks of nude photos of several Hollywood actresses, including Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, in September 2014.
Many of these backups contained sensitive and private photographs and videos
According to a plea agreement signed by Majerczyk, he illegally accessed Apple iCloud and Google Gmail accounts belonging to more than 300 people, using an email “phishing” ploy to obtain their user names and passwords.
Through this scheme, Majerczyk was able to access full iCloud backups belonging to numerous victims, including at least 30 celebrities, many of whom reside in the Los Angeles area, the plea agreement stated.
“Many of these backups contained sensitive and private photographs and videos,” it said.
Under his deal with federal prosecutors, Majerczyk, a Chicago resident, will formally plead guilty in US District Court in Illinois to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.