Joseph James O’Connor, a 23-year-old man from the UK, has pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and computer hacking, including the 2020 Twitter hack. The US Justice Department announced the guilty plea on May 9th. O’Connor has been charged with multiple crimes, including conspiring to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, and money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23rd.
O’Connor was extradited to the US on April 26th and was charged in both North Dakota and New York. Reuters reported that the North Dakota case was later transferred to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, O’Connor’s criminal activities caused substantial emotional harm to his victims, and his conduct impacted multiple people’s lives. He harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims.
US Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California noted that O’Connor left a trail of destruction in the wake of his criminal activity, adding that this case serves as a warning that criminals who use computers to commit crimes may end up facing the consequences of their actions in places they did not anticipate.
O’Connor’s cyberstalking and computer hacking schemes involved gaining unauthorized access to social media accounts on Twitter and TikTok. In July 2020, along with his co-conspirators, he gained access to Twitter accounts of high-profile individuals, including Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Kanye West. The group stole at least $794,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
The hack prompted Twitter to prevent some verified accounts from publishing messages for several hours until security could be restored. O’Connor was arrested in Spain almost two years ago for the hack.
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