Enlarge / Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, known online as “Guccifer,” was sentenced to 52 months in prison on Thursday. (credit: NBC News/YouTube)
The Romanian hacker who helped expose Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of private e-mail as secretary of state was sentenced Thursday to 52 months in prison in connection to an admission that he broke into about 100 Americans’ mail accounts. The compromised accounts included celebrities, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and family members of former Presidents George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Sidney Blumenthal, a political advisor whom Clinton corresponded with using her private e-mail account.
Marcel Lehel Lazar, a 44-year-old cab driver known by the handle Guccifer, conducted his crimes at home and was extradited to the US this year. He pleaded guilty to identity theft and federal hacking charges.
Guccifer had claimed he hacked into Clinton’s private e-mail server at her New York residence. But he’s never been charged for that and he has never divulged the contents of the alleged hack. However, the hacker did reveal private documents from other hacks, including self portraits painted by George W. Bush. He also leaked memos Blumenthal sent Clinton to her private e-mail account. This eventually exposed the fact that Clinton used that account as secretary of state for personal and private businesses instead of using her government account for official business.
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Source: Ars Technica – Hacker Guccifer, who exposed Clinton’s use of private e-mail, gets 52 months