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Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 10/22/08 Section: News
Student sentenced for 2006 hacking of SEAS server
Child porn also found on Goldstein's computer, but aiding the FBI helped him avoid charges
Emily Schultheis
Engineering senior Ryan Goldstein was sentenced yesterday to one year of various types of confinement and was fined $30,000 for his involvement in a hacking scheme that caused a Penn server to crash.
He received five years of probation from U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson.
His year of confinement includes 90 days in custody, which Baylson recommended be an in-home situation but could involve prison time.
Goldstein will also serve 90 days in a halfway house and 180 days of home confinement.
Goldstein, a Bioengineering major, must also pay a fine of $30,000.
Other conditions of his sentencing include participation in a mental-health program and full disclosure of financial records. He is also only allowed to use a computer for work and school for five years.
This combination of penalties, though "unusual," Baylson said, is within the federal sentencing guidelines, which suggest zero to six months in prison.
Goldstein, who was involved in hacking into the School of Engineering and Applied Science's computer server in February 2006, was arrested as part of an international FBI investigation in fall 2007.
He pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another person to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer, a federal misdemeanor, in March.
Goldstein is still enrolled at the University.
At the sentencing hearing, Goldstein's attorney, Ronald Levine, asked for a non-incarceration sentence.
He highlighted Goldstein's cooperation with the government following his arrest and his "extraordinary remorse" for his actions, saying he had apologized to those affected and participated in community service.
Part of that service has involved working in Hillel's soup kitchen.
Levine said Goldstein's actions since his arrest are "evidence of someone who has begun the process of straightening himself out."
In addition to Goldstein's participation in the hacking scheme, FBI agents found several thousand images of child pornography on his computer. The child porn was disclosed for the first time in court yesterday.
He did not face charges for the pornography because he helped the FBI in its investigation of the hacking scheme.
Goldstein's psychologist testified that she had been treating him for "mixed anxiety and depressed mood" since December 2006, and incarceration "would only increase his anxiety greatly."
Goldstein also spoke at the hearing.
"I want to apologize to everyone who was affected by my actions," he said. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about what I did."
He said that he "didn't resurface from that computer world until the FBI knocked on my door," but that since his arrest, he has been able to better relate to others and "feel more connected with the world."
He received five years of probation from U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson.
His year of confinement includes 90 days in custody, which Baylson recommended be an in-home situation but could involve prison time.
Goldstein will also serve 90 days in a halfway house and 180 days of home confinement.
Goldstein, a Bioengineering major, must also pay a fine of $30,000.
Other conditions of his sentencing include participation in a mental-health program and full disclosure of financial records. He is also only allowed to use a computer for work and school for five years.
This combination of penalties, though "unusual," Baylson said, is within the federal sentencing guidelines, which suggest zero to six months in prison.
Goldstein, who was involved in hacking into the School of Engineering and Applied Science's computer server in February 2006, was arrested as part of an international FBI investigation in fall 2007.
He pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another person to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer, a federal misdemeanor, in March.
Goldstein is still enrolled at the University.
At the sentencing hearing, Goldstein's attorney, Ronald Levine, asked for a non-incarceration sentence.
He highlighted Goldstein's cooperation with the government following his arrest and his "extraordinary remorse" for his actions, saying he had apologized to those affected and participated in community service.
Part of that service has involved working in Hillel's soup kitchen.
Levine said Goldstein's actions since his arrest are "evidence of someone who has begun the process of straightening himself out."
In addition to Goldstein's participation in the hacking scheme, FBI agents found several thousand images of child pornography on his computer. The child porn was disclosed for the first time in court yesterday.
He did not face charges for the pornography because he helped the FBI in its investigation of the hacking scheme.
Goldstein's psychologist testified that she had been treating him for "mixed anxiety and depressed mood" since December 2006, and incarceration "would only increase his anxiety greatly."
Goldstein also spoke at the hearing.
"I want to apologize to everyone who was affected by my actions," he said. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about what I did."
He said that he "didn't resurface from that computer world until the FBI knocked on my door," but that since his arrest, he has been able to better relate to others and "feel more connected with the world."
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
Ira Winston
posted 10/22/08 @ 6:13 AM EST
Read the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer to get the real story.
This article is awful.
Alum
posted 10/22/08 @ 10:37 AM EST
Compassion is appropriate for a talented young man who has made a serious mistake and is now paying the price. The current tendency to act vengefully towards those who make serious mistakes says a lot about our current culture, and not all of it is good. (Continued…)
Some mistakes are bigger than others...
posted 10/22/08 @ 1:49 PM EST
Hacking into a server constitutes theft of resources and possible damage thereto, and deserves to be punished severely. Doing so is a crime, not a mistake. (Continued…)
Mark
posted 10/22/08 @ 6:55 PM EST
"Alumnus's" post is the dumbest comment on this thread. Yeah, breaking into a fellow student's email account and sabotaging Penn's network to illegally preform cyber-crimes really deserves "compassion. (Continued…)
JailBird
posted 10/22/08 @ 9:01 PM EST
I believe this whole thing is blown out of proportion by this article and the media. Ryan probably just felt one day he'll do something that he thought he could get away with easily, just to realize it would come back to haunt him. (Continued…)
Bill Ayers
posted 10/22/08 @ 9:04 PM EST
If this kid had blown up some buildings, he would've at least had the support of some professors and students.
cm2
posted 10/26/08 @ 9:48 AM EST
This guys was an online child predator, he systematically seduced and enticed small boys to have "webcam sex" with him,among other things, this cannot be "blown out of proportion", I would not be surprised if both JailBird and Alumnus are either him or his family or close friends posting to try and make this all seem "not so bad"
Ryan aka Digerati, was banned from the SSGroup servers and channels for this behavior, THATS what started the ddos war that eventually led to his capture and arrest. (Continued…)
compassion fatigue treatment questions answered
posted 10/29/08 @ 1:00 PM EST
Wow that is harsh. Unfortunately, only a tiny tiny fraction of all hackers manage to turn their knowledge in to something truly useful and make a good living off of it
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