ATLANTA, March 22 (UPI) -- A former U.S. State Department employee who hacked into women's email accounts and blackmailed them with explicit photos was sentenced to five years in prison.
Michael C. Ford, 36, of Atlanta pleaded guilty in December to nine counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of computer hacking to extort and one count of wire fraud while engaged in what is known as "sextortion." Ford was arrested in Atlanta in May as he attempted to fly back to London with his wife and son.
While employed at the U.S. embassy in London, Ford hacked into email accounts of thousands of victims as a fictitious "account deletion team." He obtained passwords to help him hack into at least 450 social media accounts. When he found explicit photos, he threatened to release those photos unless sexually explicit videos were sent him, the Department of Justice said in a statement released Monday.
Evidence of another scheme, involving Ford as a fictitious recruiter of models in which he convinced potential models to send him topless photos and other information, was presented by government prosecutors at his sentencing.
"The Diplomatic Security Service is proud of the hard work of everyone involved in the investigation including our partners at the FBI and the Department of Justice," said State Department Diplomatic Security Service Director Bill Miller. "When a public servant in a position of trust commits crimes like cyberstalking and computer hacking on such a large scale, we will vigorously investigate those crimes and ensure they are brought to justice."
