U.S. NAVY MILITARY HACK 2012: Nicholas Paul Knight & Daniel Trenton Krueger charged with Hacking US Navy Computer Systems & Sites

Daniel Trenton Krueger, 20, of Salem, Illinois and Nicholas Paul Knight, 27, of Chantilly, Virginia, were accused of conspiring "to hack computers and computer systems as part of a plan to steal identities, obstruct justice, and damage a protected computer" from April 2012 to June 2013, court documents and prosecutors said.

USS Harry S. Truman

Knight, a former systems administrator in the nuclear reactor department of the USS Harry S. Truman, was the self-proclaimed leader and publicist of "Team Digi7al," prosecutors said. He used the names Inertia, Iner7ia, Logic and Solo and has been a hacker since the age of 16, charging documents say. He was discharged from the Navy after he was caught trying to hack a Navy database while at sea.

In an interview with a reporter for the website Softpedia, parts of which are quoted in charging documents, "Iner7ia" said that he was originally a White hat hacker, who found and reported security vulnerabilities. But he became bored and said "the people I did work for were ungrateful and sometimes they wouldn't take me seriously."

He admitted being a member of the United States Navy, and said that he worked for the people of the U.S. hacking primarily government sites, not the government. "I believe that if we can't protect ourselves against a cyber attack, then how can we trust the government to protect against anything else?"

He said that he uses a separate computer to avoid being caught, and at one point said, "I just hope that I can retire knowing I was never caught and arrested. Haha"

Krueger, who was studying network administration at an undisclosed college, did the hacking "out of boredom," prosecutors said. He went by the names Thor, Orunu, Gambit and Chronus.

Charging documents say that in June of 2012, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) detected a breach of a Naval database located in Oklahoma that contains the Social Security numbers, names, and birth dates of roughly approximately 220.000 members of the military.

"The Navy quickly identified the breach and tracked down the alleged culprits through their online activity, revealing an extensive computer hacking scheme committed across the country and even abroad," said U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams of the Northern District of Oklahoma.

U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams

The NCIS and Defense Criminal Investigative Service identified Knight and Krueger as the hackers of the Navy database as well as systems belonging to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, AT&T U-verse, Universities, Police Departments in Toronto and Alabama and the entire email account of the Peruvian ambassador to Bolivia.

They posted links to the data via Team Digi7al's Twitter account, and one co-conspirator said they released the data because they were "somewhat politically inclined to" but also because it was "fun, and we can," prosecutors said.

The U-verse hack compromised the personal information of 3.500 customers. The June 2012 Navy hack left 700 overseas military members unable to access the system and get "logistical support" for their transfers for more than 10 weeks and cost the Navy more than 500.000 US-Dollars documents say.

The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

After the NCIS searched Knight's Virginia home in February of 2013, he admitted "many" of his Team Digi7al activities and agreed to cooperate, but told a juvenile co-conspirator to delete data, documents say.

That juvenile and two others who hacked for Team Digi7al were not charged.

Illinois ONLINE CHILD PREDATORS 2009/2012: Eight Self-Identified ‘Boy Lovers’ Sentenced to Federal Prison for Sexual Exploitation Crimes

Three years after several self-identified “boylovers,” who met in person and online to discuss their sexual interest in children and trade child pornography, were arrested in an FBI sting during or soon after a purported party at a hotel in suburban Skokie, a total of eight defendants have been convicted and sentenced to federal prison terms as a result of the investigation. The sentences ranged from nine years for a suburban Crest Hill man sentenced last week in Chicago to 120 years for a Missouri man sentenced last year in St. Louis.

Six of the eight defendants pleaded guilty and three of them cooperated against others, while the Crest Hill man and a Missouri defendant were convicted after separate trials. All were prosecuted as part of an investigation by the Chicago FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force, which culminated with the undercover sting in September 2009.

“The sentences in these cases reflect the stark reality that defendants who prey upon children by sexually exploiting or abusing them will be punished severely,” said Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He announced the sentences together with William C. Monroe, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mark McGill, 27, of Crest Hill, was sentenced to nine years in prison, followed by 20 years’ supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall on October 9th, 2012. McGill was convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography after a trial in March 2012. Evidence at McGill’s trial showed that he had attended at least one party with other “boylovers.”

In August 2009, McGill gave a cooperating defendant a thumb drive containing approximately 3.500 images and nearly 60 videos containing child pornography.

Jose Garcia, 25, of Schererville, Indiana, was sentenced to 33 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on July 23. Garcia, who cooperated, pleaded guilty to producing, possessing, and distributing child pornography.

Jacob Elliott, 32, of Matteson, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years’ supervised release, by U.S. District Judge John Grady on July 18. Elliott, who cooperated, pleaded guilty to producing and possessing child pornography.

Corey Stinefast, 30, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, sentenced to 18 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, by Judge St. Eve on June 13. Stinefast pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography, and he was found to have amassed a collection of more than 191.000 images of child pornography.

Neal Maschke, 42, of West Chicago, was sentenced to nine years in prison, followed by five years’ supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan in October 2010. Maschke pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

McGill, Maschke, Garcia, Stinefast

Donald Peppers, 38, of Hoffman Estates, sentenced to 27 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, by the late U.S. District Judge William Hibbler in December 2010. Peppers, who cooperated, pleaded guilty to producing, transporting, and possessing child pornography, including an admission that he had produced a video of himself sexually molesting a 1-year-old child. Peppers’ arrest and subsequent cooperation touched off the investigation that resulted in the other prosecutions.

Garcia and Maschke were arrested when they showed up for what they believed was going to be a “boylovers” party at the Skokie hotel in September 2009. McGill and Stinefast were arrested a short time later. Two other defendants, Michael Martin and Matthew Klopfenstine, were convicted in federal courts in St. Louis and Kansas City, respectively, based on evidence gathered during this investigation. Martin was sentenced last year to 120 years in prison for producing child pornography, and Klopfenstine was sentenced recently to 15 years and eight months for producing child pornography.

ILLINOIS Online Child Predators 2011: “funson999” aka Michael Wayne Bailey sentenced to 97 Months in Prison

US District Attorney S.R. Wiggington

On March 12th, 2012, Michael Wayne Bailey, 35, of Granite City, Illinois, was sentenced to a total of 97 months imprisonment charging him with possession of child pornography (count one) and receipt of child pornography (count two), the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced. The sentence consists of 97 months’ imprisonment on counts one and two, to run concurrently.

Michael Wayne Bailey

Bailey was also ordered to serve 20 years’ of supervised release on counts one and two, to run concurrently; fined 300 USD on each count, for a total fine of 600 USD; and ordered to pay an additional 200 USD special assessment. Bailey pled guilty to the two-count indictment on September 23rd, 2011 and has been detained since his arraignment on July 26th, 2011.

The violation referenced in count one of the indictment occurred on March 17th, 2011, when officers were executing a state search warrant and seized eight PCs with numerous other media devices from the residence which Bailey shared with other individuals. While profiling the data on the computers, officers located a screen name, “funson999,” which contained numerous chats, discussing the molestation of children and trading images of minors. Officers were able to track the funson999 account to Michael Bailey.

Bailey then admitted creating the funson999 account, stating that he would save images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to his hard drive and then delete them. Bailey also stated he received approximately 10 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct via the Web. Additionally he also admitted engaging in the chats recovered from his computer. Finally, Bailey stated that he deleted e-mails and other information associated to the funson999 account after the initial search warrant was executed.

The violation referenced in count two of the indictment occurred on October 2, 2009, when Bailey downloaded an image of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The case was investigated by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The case itself was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.

ILLINOIS Online Child Predators 2012: David Murch, 20, of Schaumburg, Illinois, sentenced to six years in prison for Traveling Interstate to Engage in Sexual Contact with a Minor

In June 2012, David Murch, 20, of Schaumburg, Illinois, was sentenced to six years in prison by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, for Traveling Interstate to Engage in Sexual Contact with a Minor and receipt of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura K. O’Donnell, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant met the minor victim online and developed a relationship through the Internet and telephone. In 2010, Murch traveled to Western New York from Illinois for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with the minor and transported the minor back to his home in Illinois. At the defendant’s request, the minor victim sent the defendant personal lewd images via text messaging.

U.S. Attorney William Hochul

 “This case began with an online chat between a predator and a child,” 

“Parents are once again reminded to monitor the computer usage of their children and to talk to them about the dangers lurking online.”

said U.S. Attorney William Hochul.