The man who hacked into the personal email accounts of Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis and dozens of others in the entertainment industry, and obtained nude photos of Johansson that eventually ended up on the internet, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice told TheWrap in a statement.
Judge S. James Otero of U.S. District Court in central California also ordered 36-year-old Jacksonville, Fla., resident Christopher Chaney to may more than $66,000 in restitution to his victims.
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At Chaney's sentencing hearing, Otero said that Chaney had displayed "callous disregard to the victims," adding that the extreme emotional distress caused by such cybercrimes can be as devastating as a physical injury.
In March, Chaney pleaded guilty to nine felony counts, including wiretapping and unauthorized access to protected computers.
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According to the DOJ, Chaney hacked into his victims' email by clicking on the "forgot your password?" feature of their accounts and then resetting them by correctly answering security question using publicly available information.
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“Mr. Chaney is responsible for causing dozens of illegally obtained, private photographs to be posted on the Internet, where they were available for all to see," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a statement."This case is a sobering reminder that cybercrime poses a very
real threat to every American, and everyone should take steps to safeguard their
identities and personal information on the Internet.”
Chaney had faced up to 60 years in prison.