Canadian ransomware hacker sentenced to 20 years in U.S. prison – By Roxanna Woloshyn, Marie-Maude Denis (CBC News) / Oct 4, 2022
Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins pleaded guilty to ransomware crimes, $28 million in bitcoin seized
A former Canadian government employee turned ransomware hacker has been sentenced to a 20-year prison term in the United States in what a federal court judge called “the worst case he’s ever seen.”
Visibly outraged, Justice William F. Jung described Sébastien Vachon-Desjardins of Gatineau, Que., as “Jesse James meets the 21st century,” referring to the notorious 19th century American outlaw as he handed down his decision in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday.
In June, Vachon-Desjardins — a former IT specialist for Public Services and Procurement Canada — pleaded guilty to four charges, including computer fraud and transmitting a demand in relation to damaging a protected computer in the U.S.
Vachon-Desjardins, 35, was one of the most prolific affiliates of Netwalker, a Russian-speaking ransomware criminal gang that operated at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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