New York, Dec 23 (IANS) A 23-year-old Bahamian has been charged with unlawfully accessing celebrity email accounts to steal scripts and sexually explicit videos.
The charges were filed against Alonzo Knowles by Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the southern district of New York, and Glenn Sorge, acting special agent in charge of US Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations here, reports variety.com.
Knowles was arrested here on Monday and charged with counts of criminal copyright infringement and identity theft. Both counts carry maximum sentences of five years.
"This case has all of the elements of the kind of blockbuster script the defendant, Alonzo Knowles, is alleged to have stolen: hacks into celebrities private emails, identity theft, and attempts to sell victims information to the highest bidder", Bharara said.
"Unfortunately, these circumstances are all too real. I want to thank HSI for their quick work to stop Knowless alleged intrusions and his efforts to profit from the information he stole", Bharara added.
Knowles was held without bail. The Prosecutors did not identify any of the victims.
He was arrested after allegedly attempting to sell 15 movie and television scripts for $80,000.
