Hacker begs for shorter sentence as prosecutors decide if he’ll serve 16 MONTHS for ‘celebgate’

One of the hackers who leaked thousands of naked photos and videos of celebs like Kirsten Dunst, Gabrielle Union and Jennifer Lawrence has whined that his tarnished reputation should grant him leniency in sentencing. 

George Garofano, 26, begged for the shorter sentence and claimed to ‘always regret’ the part he played in hacking 250 iCloud accounts, posting the sensitive material on Reddit.

‘It will take me a while to forgive myself for this, and I am disappointed in myself,’ the North Branford, Connecticut, resident said in court filings obtained by the New York Post. 

‘I feel remorse for anyone that could have been affected by this on any scale, public or private. It is a part of my life that I will always regret, as it has never been a reflection of who I am as an individual.’ 

Garofano’s remarks comes after federal prosecutors in Connecticut requested that the man be sentenced to a mere 10 to 16 months for his crimes. 

George Garofano, 26, begged for the shorter sentence and claimed to 'always regret' the part he played in hacking 250 iCloud accounts, posting nudes belonging to Jennifer Lawrence and Kirsten Dunst

George Garofano, 26, begged for the shorter sentence and claimed to ‘always regret’ the part he played in hacking 250 iCloud accounts, posting nudes belonging to Jennifer Lawrence and Kirsten Dunst

The man pleaded guilty to the April charge of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information in connection to the 2014 ‘celebgate.’

He and his family believes that Garofano should serve a short time, followed by a short stint on house-arrest. 

‘Of course, he was old enough to know better even back then, that the conduct he was engaging in was wrong. But he now stands before the Court having matured, accepting responsibility for his actions and not having been in trouble with the law since,’ Richard Lynch, his lawyer, explained.

Garofano’s older brother – Ralph – said that his brother’s guilt is like an ’emotional prison’. Another loved one said that ‘within hours [of his arrest] George’s scarlet letter was permanent.’ 

He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 29. 

‘I feel remorse for anyone that could have been affected by this on any scale, public or private. It is a part of my life that I will always regret, as it has never been a reflection of who I am as an individual,’ he said. Gabrielle Union and Kate Upton were other celebs who had their photos posted

Prosecutors explained that from April 2013 through October 2014, Garofano engaged in a phishing scheme to obtain usernames and passwords for iCloud accounts.

Garofano admitted that he sent emails to victims that appeared to be from security accounts of Apple and encouraged the victims to send him their usernames and passwords, or to enter them on a third-party website, where he would later retrieve them.

The hacker then used the usernames and passwords to illegally access his victims’ iCloud accounts, which allowed him to steal personal information, including sensitive and private photographs and videos, according to his plea agreement.

The case against Garofano is the fourth case stemming from FBI’s ‘celebgate’ investigation.

Edward Majerczyk, 29,from Chicago, was sentenced last year to nine months in federal prison

Ryan Collins, 36, a father-of-two from Pennsylvania, was sentenced in 2016 to 18 months in prison

Co-conspirators: Edward Majerczyk (left), 29, from Chicago, was sentenced last year to nine months in federal prison. Ryan Collins (right), 36, a father-of-two from Pennsylvania, was sentenced in 2016 to 18 months in prison

Chicago resident Emilio Herrera has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced next month after federal prosecutors charged him in a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to more than 550 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts.

Another Illinois man, 29-year-old Edward Majerczyk, was sentenced last year to nine months in federal prison.

In the third case, Ryan Collins, 36, a father-of-two from Pennsylvania, was sentenced in 2016 to 18 months in prison.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk