TJX Hacker Gonzalez Gets 20 Years For Crime

Defendant Still to be Sentenced for Heartland Breach Linda McGlasson • March 25, 2010

A federal judge Thursday sentenced Albert Gonzalez to 20 years in prison for leading a group of cybercriminals who hacked into the IT systems of TJX and other retailers. Gonzalez, who received his sentence for the TJX, Office Max, DSW and Dave & Busters breaches in front of a judge in the District Court of Massachusetts in Boston, will face another sentencing on Friday in the Heartland Payment Systems breach.

His sentence of 20 years in the TJX breach, where more than 90 million credit and debit cards were taken, brings to a close the most expensive and biggest prosecution of computer crime undertaken by law enforcement. The 20-year sentence is also one of the toughest imposed for a financial crime of this type. Second to his sentence is the 13-year-long sentence handed down to hacker Max Vision in February for stealing 2 million credit cards from banks, businesses and other criminals.

The notorious hacker Gonzalez, also known as "segvec," "soupnazi" and "j4guar17," pled guilty late last year. His attorney had argued in presentencing hearings that Gonzalez should be given only 15 years because of his cooperation with law enforcement and stated that the defendant suffered from Asperger syndrome, a form of autism.

In the Heartland incident and two other cases involving Hannaford and 7-Eleven, Gonzalez could be sentenced up to 25 years.