The hacker who helped leak nude photographs of Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton has asked the judge for a shorter sentence because he’s "already suffered enough."
George Garofano – who arranged a phishing scheme with other people to obtain the passwords and usernames of over 240 iCloud accounts – filed documents in his criminal case this week asking the judge to give him a short prison sentence followed by home detention after prosecutors recommended 10-16 months behind bars.
Garofano has argued that the crime took place at the end of his senior year of college and, although he should’ve known better, he feels deep "remorse" for those affected.
He said in the legal papers: "It was not only illegal, but morally wrong, and it will take me a while to forgive myself for this, and I am disappointed in myself for anyone that I hurt, the victims, my family, and my friends. I feel remorse for anyone that could have been affected by this on any scale, public or private. It is a part of my life that I will always regret, as it has never been a reflection of who I am as an individual."
He then went on to argue that he has enjoyed a "middle-class upbringing in a stable home with both of his parents" and has never got in trouble with the law until now.
His lawyer added: "Of course, he was old enough to know better even back then, that the conduct he was engaging in was wrong.
"But he now stands before the Court having matured, accepting responsibility or his actions and not having been in trouble with the law since."
Twenty-six-year-old Garofano – who has completed an outpatient treatment programme – accepts that the felony conviction will be carried with him for his life.
Garofano was just one of the four hackers charged over the ‘Celebgate’ – which saw explicit photos of numerous celebrities leaked on Reddit – in 2014.
Back in April, he pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorised access to a protected computer to obtain information and was release on a $50,000 bond.
According to the documents, obtained by The Blast, his lawyer has argued that his client played a small role in the scheme and was not the mastermind behind it.
He will be sentenced later this month.
Jennifer Lawrence’s hacker request shorter sentence
