Bahamian man gets 5 years in U.S. prison for hacking celebrities

NEW YORK, (Reuters) A Bahamian man was sentenced to five years in U.S. prison yesterday for hacking into celebrities’ email accounts to steal unreleased film and television scripts, personal information and sexually explicit videos in order to sell them.

Alonzo Knowles, who maintained a list of 130 celebrities’ emails and phone numbers, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan. He pleaded guilty in May to charges of criminal copyright infringement and identity theft.

“You have some obvious facility for computers,” Engelmayer said. “But you chose to use your gifts for dark and lawless ends.”