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Hacker gets 5 years in prison for stealing celebrity emails, sex tapes, TV scripts

Hacker gets 5 years in prison for stealing celebrity emails, sex tapes, TV scripts

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Alonzo Knowles, a 24-year-old hacker who pleaded guilty to phishing celebrities for unpublished TV scripts and explicit videos, has been sentenced to five years in prison at a New York City federal court today. The sentence is nearly double the amount of years suggested by the federal guidelines, The New York Times reports, despite a plea deal where Knowles handed over unreleased songs, scripts, and $1,900 in cash.

Although Knowles said he was apologetic for his actions when he pleaded guilty, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer says the defendant’s behavior while in jail suggested otherwise. Knowles reportedly sent emails, which were monitored by the Bureau of Prisons system, detailing plans to write a book that spilled secrets from the private email accounts he accessed.

“Everyone loves gossip... I cant wait to get out i already know how the cover is gonna look.”

“Everyone loves gossip,” he wrote. “I cant wait to get out i already know how the cover is gonna look.”

Knowles also wrote about hacking into Twitter accounts to promote the book that would “shake up hollywood for real,” with plans to sell them at $35 per copy. Judge Engelmayer said the emails proved that releasing the defendant would allow him to commit the same crime again in the near future, thus more than quadrupled the 14-month sentence Knowles’ lawyer initially asked for.

The affected celebrities were not identified, but the court acknowledged that it received statements from 20th Century Fox and actress-singer Naturi Naughton, a former member of R&B group 3LW who currently appears on the Starz drama “Power.”