MARY JO WHITE, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RAYMOND TORRICELLI, a/k/a "rolex," a member of a hacker group known as "#conflict," pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to charges of breaking into two computers owned and maintained by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ("JPL"), located in Pasadena California.

           According to a previously filed Complaint, TORRICELLI used one of those computers to host an Internet chat-room and installed programs designed to obtain usernames and passwords from the other computer. 


           In pleading to a five-count Information, TORRICELLI admitted that, in 1998, he was a computer hacker, and a member of a hacking organization known as "#conflict."  TORRICELLI admitted that, operating from his residence in New Rochelle, he used his personal computer to run programs designed to search the Internet, and seek out computers which were vulnerable to intrusion; once such computers were located, TORRICELLI's computer would then obtain unauthorized access to the computers by uploading a program known as "rootkit."  According to the Complaint, "rootkit" is a program which, when run on computer, allows a hacker to gain complete access to all of a computer's functions without having been granted these privileges by the authorized users of that computer. 


           According to the Information and Complaint, one of the computers TORRICELLI accessed was used by NASA to perform satellite design and mission analysis concerning future space missions, another was used by JPL’s Communications Ground Systems Section as an e-mail and internal web server.  After gaining this unauthorized access to computers he intruded and loading "rootkit," TORRICELLI under his alias "rolex," used many of the computers to host chat-room discussions.  


           In his plea allocution, TORRICELLI admitted that, in these discussions, he invited other chat participants to visit a website which would enable them to view pornographic images, and that he earned $0.18 for each visit a person made to that website.  According to the Complaint, TORRICELLI earned approximately $300 to $400 per week from this activity. 


           TORRICELLI also pled guilty to intercepting usernames and passwords traversing the computer networks of a computer owned by San Jose State University, and to possession of stolen passwords and usernames which he used to gain free Internet access, or to gain unauthorized access to still more computers.  TORRICELLI admitted, as part of his plea allocution, that he when he obtained passwords which were encrypted, he would use a password cracking program known as"John-the-Ripper" to decrypt the passwords.

           In addition, TORRICELLI pled guilty to possessing stolen credit card numbers.  As part of his plea, TORRICELLI admitted that he used one such credit card number to purchase long distance telephone service.  As alleged in the Complaint, TORRICELLI obtained these credit card numbers from other individuals and stored them on his computer.

           As described in the Complaint, much of the evidence obtained against TORRICELLI was obtained through a search of his personal computer.  According to the Complaint, in addition to thousands of stolen passwords and numerous credit card numbers, investigators found transcripts of chat-room discussions in which TORRICELLI and members of "#conflict" discuss, among other things, (1) breaking into other computers (a practice known as "hacking"); (2) obtaining credit card numbers belonging to other persons and using those numbers to make unauthorized purchases (a practice known as "carding"); and (3) using their computers to electronically alter the results of the annual MTV Movie Awards.
 
           Chief United States District Judge MICHAEL B. MUKASEY set sentencing in the case for March 7, 2001, at 9:15 A.M.  At sentencing, TORRICELLI faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine each on the credit card fraud and password possession charges; 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the password interception charge; and 1 year in prison and a $100,000 fine on each of the charges involving his unauthorized access of the two NASA computers.
 
           Ms. WHITE praised the investigative efforts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of the Inspector General, Computer Crimes Division; the New Rochelle, New York, Police Department; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

           Ms. WHITE stated:  "The Internet is not a safe haven for criminals.  As this case demonstrates, hackers who use the Internet to commit credit card fraud, steal private passwords and usernames, and gain access to restricted Government computers, thereby damaging those computers, are not harmless pranksters -- they are criminals, and will be dealt with vigorously."

TORRICELLI, 20 lives in the New Rochelle, New York.
Assistant United States Attorney JOSEPH V. De MARCO is in charge of the prosecution.
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