Judge sentences SEC hacker to 14 months in prison
Lawyers for the SEC hacker had requested a sentence of one year and one day, while the US government asked the judge to send Eric Council Jr. to prison for two years.
A federal judge has sentenced Eric Council Jr., one of the individuals responsible for posting a fake message announcing regulatory approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, to 14 months in prison.
Following a May 16 hearing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department announced that Council would serve 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. He was part of a group that compromised the X account of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through a SIM swap attack in January 2024, claiming the regulatory body would be approving spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.
“Schemes of this nature threaten the health and integrity of our market system,” said Jeanine Pirro, interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia. “SIM swap schemes threaten the financial security of average citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies.”