Colombian Hacker Jailed for 10 years for Spying on Government
The Colombian hacker, Sepulveda, was found guilty of espionage, illegal wire-tapping, slinging malware, breaching communications and unauthorized access to classified information. The criminal will be imprisoned for 10 years in exchange for surrendering the information he gathered. He has also been ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.
Jairo Ardila, Sepulveda’s lawyer, stated, “With this demonstration of collaboration and repentance, in addition to providing the information from the scandal, my client has received a reduction in the sentence of the third party in the form of a 10-year prison term.”
According to Ardila, Sepulveda accepted liability for the case and pled guilty to all charges during the closed-door hearing, which spanned just over an hour and a half.
The investigation was allegedly aimed at helping then-presidential candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga to dig up dirt against President Juan Manuel Santos during Colombia's 2014 presidential campaign.
The Latin Times reports that Sepulveda worked as an employee of Zuluaga. He was arrested in May 2014 after wiretaps had been traced by investigators back to secret offices.
The hacker unveiled the fact that he was particularly hired by the group that headed the presidential campaign of the Democratic Center, in order to obtain intelligence from the meetings taking place in Havana. The hacker further revealed that the purpose of hiring him also included gathering information about other Colombian politicians so that this data could be used to launch a “dirty war” against political opponents.
In an interview with SEMANA, the hacker described that how he has become one of the “most threatened men in Colombia” and has had four attempts made on his life ever since he made his way into the public eye.
Sepulveda was asked why he waited so long to make his declarations, he replied that he has been “busy” with judicial proceedings, being forced to move into a “complex policed by the security team of the Attorney General’s Office” and “being betrayed” by those formerly close to him.
Jairo Ardila, Sepulveda’s lawyer, stated, “With this demonstration of collaboration and repentance, in addition to providing the information from the scandal, my client has received a reduction in the sentence of the third party in the form of a 10-year prison term.”
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| Source: Colombia Reports |
According to Ardila, Sepulveda accepted liability for the case and pled guilty to all charges during the closed-door hearing, which spanned just over an hour and a half.
The investigation was allegedly aimed at helping then-presidential candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga to dig up dirt against President Juan Manuel Santos during Colombia's 2014 presidential campaign.
The Latin Times reports that Sepulveda worked as an employee of Zuluaga. He was arrested in May 2014 after wiretaps had been traced by investigators back to secret offices.
The hacker unveiled the fact that he was particularly hired by the group that headed the presidential campaign of the Democratic Center, in order to obtain intelligence from the meetings taking place in Havana. The hacker further revealed that the purpose of hiring him also included gathering information about other Colombian politicians so that this data could be used to launch a “dirty war” against political opponents.
In an interview with SEMANA, the hacker described that how he has become one of the “most threatened men in Colombia” and has had four attempts made on his life ever since he made his way into the public eye.
Sepulveda was asked why he waited so long to make his declarations, he replied that he has been “busy” with judicial proceedings, being forced to move into a “complex policed by the security team of the Attorney General’s Office” and “being betrayed” by those formerly close to him.
