A Miami computer hacker was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday for leading the largest U.S. identity-theft ring, stealing 130 million credit- and debit-card records from Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and other companies.
Albert Gonzalez, 28, was sentenced in federal court in Boston after he pleaded guilty to thefts from Heartland, 7-Eleven Inc., Delhaize Group's Hannaford Brothers Co. and two unidentified national retailers. Another judge also sentenced Gonzalez Thursday to 20 years for the theft of 40 million credit- and debit-card records from retailers including TJX Cos., OfficeMax Inc. and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. The sentence imposed yesterday will run at the same time as the one set Thursday.
"This is a very sophisticated theft, but it is theft," U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock said yesterday in sentencing Gonzalez. "It's no different than picking someone's pocket."
Woodlock also imposed a fine of $25,000 on Gonzalez, who faced as many as 35 years in prison. The judge said he will determine the restitution amount later. Gonzalez pleaded guilty last year to cases filed in New Jersey, Boston and New York. The New Jersey case was transferred to Boston.
Prosecutors said in court filings that Gonzalez and his confederates created the largest identity-theft ring in U.S. history, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
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