Hacker Gonzalez Sentenced to 20 Years for Heartland Breach

Nancy Weil writes on ComputerWorld:

Hacker Albert Gonzalez, who participated in a cybercrime ring that stole tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers, was sentenced to 20 years in prison today.

The sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock was for Gonzalez's role in a hacking ring that broke into computer networks of Heartland Payment Systems, which processed credit and debit card transactions for Visa and American Express and retailers Hannaford Supermarkets and 7-Eleven.

The sentence will run concurrently with two other 20-year sentences meted out Thursday, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by a different federal judge, Patti B. Saris. Gonzalez pleaded guilty in all three cases last December, with the U.S. Department of Justice agreeing to seek no more than 25 years in prison in each case, with all sentences to run concurrently.

More here.