Wednesday 2 November 2011

Florida Man Pleads Not Guilty In Celebrity Hacking

Los Angeles  -- A 35-year-old Florida man accused of being a "hackerazzi" pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal court to charges of hacking into celebrities' e-mail accounts.
Christopher Chaney of Jacksonville, Florida, is accused of hacking into e-mail accounts and devices belong to more than 50 people, including entertainers Scarlett Johansson,  Christina AguileraMila Kunis, Simone Harouche and Renee Olstead, prosecutors said.
During Tuesday's arraignment in Los Angeles, the federal judge increased Chaney's bail to $110,000 from $10,000 in the wake of three new accusations of cyberstalking -- including one celebrity victim who wasn't identified and was allegedly cyberstalked after authorities seized Chaney's computer earlier this year. Two other victims, including a 13-year-old, have told authorities that they were cyberstalked before the computer seizure, prosecutors said.
Chaney was expected to post bail after his mother indicated she would put up the family home as collateral. If he posts bail, Chaney will be subject to electronic monitoring and can't possess any computers, the judge said.
The judge set a December 27 trial date.
Chaney allegedly accessed nude photos of some of the celebrities during the hacking, and a recently circulated nude photo of Johansson is part of the federal investigation, prosecutors said.
Chaney also allegedly used public sources to mine data about his victims, which included both males and females, all associated with the entertainment industry, authorities said.
Authorities allege that once Chaney hacked into a celebrity's e-mail account, he would use the contact lists to find other celebrities' e-mail accounts. This allowed him to add new victims, authorities charge.
Johansson told Vanity Fair magazine she is not ashamed of the photo.
"I know my best angles," she said in an article published Tuesday. "They were sent to my husband. ... There's nothing wrong with that."
Johansson is now divorced from her husband at the time, Ryan Reynolds.
Chaney has been indicted on nine counts of computer hacking for gain, eight counts of aggravated identify theft and nine counts of illegal wiretapping, prosecutors said.
If convicted of the 26 counts, Chaney would face a maximum of 121 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. The aggravated identity theft charge alone carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence, prosecutors added.
Last month, Chaney said he became "addicted" to the intrusion and "didn't know how to stop."
"I deeply apologize. I know what I did was probably one of the worst invasions of privacy someone could experience," Chaney told CNN affiliate WAWS/WTEV in Jacksonville, Florida, last month.


There were more than 50 victims in the case. Some nude photos taken by Johansson herself were posted on the Internet. Chaney offered some material to celebrity blog sites but there wasn't any evidence that he profited from his scheme, authorities said.


Chaney is accused of mining through publicly available data to figure out password and security questions for celebrity accounts. He hijacked a forwarding feature so that a copy of every email a celebrity received was sent to an account he controlled, according to court documents.


A search warrant unsealed and obtained by The Associated Press said Chaney's computer hard drive contained numerous private celebrity photos as well as a document that compiled their extensive personal data.


In arguing for a higher bond and time behind bars, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Feldman said that even after FBI agents seized the defendant's computer in February, he continued his hacking scheme against an actress for six months. She declined to reveal the celebrity's name.


"We have great concern that he can't stop himself," Feldman said. "We think detention would."


Chaney said he managed to hack into Johansson's email account to send one of her acquaintances an email containing a nude photo of her in exchange for a photo, authorities said.


Johansson told Vanity Fair for its December issue that the photos were meant for Ryan Reynolds, who is now her ex-husband.


"There's nothing wrong with that. It's not like I was shooting a porno," the actress told the magazine.


The pair had their divorce finalized by a judge in July.


Chaney has apologized for his actions. His attorney, Christopher Chestnut, told AP that his client doesn't want the case to drag on, but the resolution has to be within reason.


"I think he has a crystal clear view of what is at stake," Chestnut said during Tuesday's hearing.


The warrant also said Chaney may have stalked a Connecticut woman online for the past 12 years. The document contends there is probable cause that Chaney violated federal charges of stalking and unauthorized access to a computer.


Federal prosecutors also said a second woman has stepped forward and made similar accusations that Chaney stalked her online. They declined to comment further.


Chaney told the AP the new allegations are completely false.


"I can't accept responsibility for things I didn't do," Chaney said.


Chestnut said the new allegations amount to nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to damage his client's reputation.


"The amount of time, money and energy the authorities have spent pursuing a man who didn't sell anything or profit in any way from this alleged activity is truly remarkable, given everything we are going through in this country," Chestnut said.


No other charges have been filed against Chaney, who has a 1998 mail fraud conviction in Florida. He was sentenced to four years' probation.


All about: Natalie Portman,  Vincent Cassel,  Mila KunisScarlett Johansson,  Christina AguileraRenee Olstead

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