Hacker Sentenced to Five Years in Jail

Jeanson James Ancheta was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison on Monday for creating and spreading viruses from which he earned profits. Jeanson, a 20-year old Downey, CA, pleaded guilty in January to federal criminal charges. His sentence is currently the longest prison term handed down for a computer virus related crime.

After he is released from prison, Jeanson will spend three more years on supervised release, during which time he will have limited access to computers or the Internet.

Ancheta created and sold botnets to spammers and hackers. These botnets were capable of taking over thousands of computers and launching Internet-based attacks.

Although Ancheta avoided a possible sentence of 25 years, $60,000 worth of assests were seized from him. Additionally, Ancheta will be responsible for repaying $15,000 to the US military for networks he damaged.