The hacker who leaked celebrity photos has pleaded guilty to hacking their emails and stealing explicit images, he has now been sentenced to six months in jail as well as two years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down by District Judge John A. Kronstadt. The hacker hails from Oregon and he phished his victims using emails that appeared to have been sent by Google and Apple, thus fooling the victims.
Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Christensen says the defendant Andrew Helton “targeted, baited and hooked” even his acquaintances with phishing emails for more than two years. He stored the explicit photos he stole on his own computer.
Helton’s celebrity victims have not been named and it’s unclear whether he widely distributed the stolen images. The massive celebrity nudes hack you might remember was called the “The Fappening,” and that was an entirely different hack.
Authorities also hold the view that Helton’s collection was never made public which is why the identity of his victims remains unknown. The Assistant United States Attorney had tried to get a year-long jail sentence for the defendant but Helton’s lawyer argued that his client shouldn’t be sent to prison because he was suffering from mental illness during the time of this incident. The judge eventually decided on a six month jail sentence coupled with two years of supervised release.