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A hacker associated with the widespread nude photo hack that came to be known as “The Fappening” was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Wednesday, the United State’s Attorney’s Office said.

Ryan Collins, 36, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in March to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. While the 18-month sentence falls in line with the feds’ recommended sentence, Collins faced up to five years in prison.

According to authorities, Collins engaged in a phishing scheme from November 2012 to September 2014, during which he obtained his victims’ usernames and passwords. Collins would send emails that seemed to be from Apple or Google, asking them to provide information. When the victims responded, Collins accessed their accounts and obtained personal information, including nude photographs and videos.

Also Read: 'Fappening' Hacker Pleads Guilty in Nude Celebrity Photo Case

Collins allegedly accessed at least 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts, mostly belonging to female celebrities.

While the case against Collins stems from the investigation into the leaks of photographs of numerous Hollywood stars in September 2014, known as “The Fappening” or “Celebgate,” investigators did not uncover any evidence linking Collins to the actual leaks, or evidence that Collins shared or uploaded the information he obtained.

Internet users jokingly called it “The Fappening” because “fap” is an online slang term for masturbation.

Authorities did not say which celebrities were hacked by Collins. Victims of The Fappening are known to include Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kaley Cuoco and Kirsten Dunst.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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Sadly, numerous female celebrities have been attacked by hackers, who stole personal information as well as sexually explicit photos from their phones and computers.
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Leslie Jones

Jones is the latest victim of nude photo hackers, with her personal website being vandalized and several explicit photos posted before the site was taken down

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Scarlett Johansson

"The Avengers" star has been the victim of hackers multiple times. Nude photos of the actress were released online in 2011 and again in the massive 2014 hack.

The perpetrator in the 2011 incident was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence was among the most high-profile victims of the 2014 hack. She came out strongly against those who viewed the pictures, saying doing so was "a sex crime."
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Kaley Cuoco

"The Big Bang Theory" star was also caught up in the 2014 hack, and took it in stride with a cheeky Instagram post.
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Selena Gomez

The 2014 hack immediately drew the attention of the FBI, which began investigating the event that claimed over 100 victims, most of them celebrities.
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Kirsten Dunst

Pennsylvania resident Ryan Collins was eventually captured and charged with illegally accessing the Google and Apple accounts of numerous celebrities, though their identities weren't made public.
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Kate Upton

Collins eventually pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, receiving an 18-month prison sentence in the plea deal.
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Rihanna

Collins was not the only one charged in the hack. Edward Majerczyk of Chicago was also arrested in connection with the data breach.
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Meagan Good

Majerczyk faced the same charge as Collins: one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer.
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Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Majerczyk pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2016. The maximum sentence for the charge of unauthorized access to a protected computer is five years.
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Kim Kardashian

In January 2017, Majerczyk received a sentence of nine months in jail as part of a plea deal. Majerczyk also was ordered to pay $5,700 in restitution for counseling services for one unnamed celebrity because of the harm caused by the hack.
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Paige

WWE Divas star Paige stated on Twitter that "personal and private" photos of her had been stolen and leaked online in March 2017. The leak is possibly part of a reportedly larger hack affecting several celebrity women. Like other victims of the apparent larger leak, photos of Paige, whose real name is Saraya-Jade Bevis, appeared on the website Celebrity Jihad.
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Some of the most infamous breaches of sensitive celebrity data — and what happened to the perpetrators

Sadly, numerous female celebrities have been attacked by hackers, who stole personal information as well as sexually explicit photos from their phones and computers.

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