In a plea bargain, the teen who took over multiple high-profile Twitter accounts in a Bitcoin scam in 2020 sentenced to three years in jail.
Graham Clark, 18, decided to plead guilty to state fraud charges in the summer of 2020 after using a hacked well-known Twitter account to seek more than $100,000 in Bitcoin. According to The Tampa Bay Times report, he agreed to complete three years in jail followed by three years of probation.
As part of the plea agreement, Clark will be sentenced as a “youthful offender”. He would be forbidden from using computers without the supervision of law enforcement, however he will be eligible to spend some of his time in a military-style boot camp.
In July 2020, a number of high-profile Twitter accounts, including Apple’s, Elon Musk’s, and President Joe Biden’s, posted messages requesting that Bitcoin be sent to a particular address under the guise of being doubled.
Authorities immediately apprehended Clark, claiming that he used stolen Twitter accounts to carry out the scam. Clark was 17 years old at the time of the scheme. Nima Fazeli of Orlando and Mason Sheppard were charged with federal crimes in connection with the scam.
Also read: Content creators on Facebook can now monetize their short video posts
Clark used social engineering techniques to persuade Twitter employees to grant him administrative access to resources that allowed him to reset the email addresses associated with Twitter accounts.
According to The Tampa Bay Times, prosecutors charged Clark in state court because state law called for more flexibility in trying a juvenile as an adult.