U.S. Department
of Justice
US v Thomas McCormick
United States v Thomas McCormick
Status Update November 21, 2023
On Wednesday, November 15, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates sentenced the defendant to 18 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, for his felony convictions in this case. The sentencing is summarized in the government’s press release at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/notorious-hacker-sentenced-18-months-prison
A status hearing to address restitution is scheduled before Judge John Bates for December 12, 2023, 10:00 AM at Courtroom 30A, Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC for defendant(s) Thomas Kennedy McCormick. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if there are issues that the Court needs to address and to schedule any necessary future court dates.
On November 15, 2023, the following disposition(s) involving the defendant Thomas Kennedy McCormick were entered by the Court:
Number of Charges - Description of Charge(s) Disposition
4 Fraud and related activity - id documents – Dismissed without Prejudice
1 Fraud and related activity (Aggravated Identity Theft) - id documents Guilty, 6 months incarceration
1 RICO - prohibited activities Guilty, 12 months incarceration
1 Attempt and conspiracy fraud – Dismissed without Prejudice
October 27, 2023 - Status Update
The sentencing date has been rescheduled to November 15, 2023 in front of Judge John Bates, in United States District Court in Washington, DC. If you feel that you have been a victim in this case and wish to be heard at sentencing, you may provide a Victim Impact Statement. In your Victim Impact Statement you may describe the emotional, physical, and financial impact you and others have suffered as a direct result of the crime. To provide the prosecution with a Victim Impact Statement that will be included with the prosecution’s sentencing materials, please email by November 8, 2023.
The email address is USADC.VIS.USvTMCCormick@usdoj.gov
STATUS UPDATE MARCH 18, 2022
The sentencing for defendant Thomas McCormick was postponed from March 4, 2022, to allow McCormick the opportunity to cooperate/testify as a Government witness against Mentor Leniqi. McCormick had pled guilty and agreed to assist law enforcement in the prosecution of the remaining co-defendants of the Darkode Forum. While McCormick was pending sentence, Codefendant Leniqi was arrested unexpectedly by German officials on our warrant on January 20, 2022. Leniqi is being held without bond in Germany while the German officials consider the U.S. request to extradite Leniqi to USA for prosecution. The court granted a joint request to delay McCormick’s sentencing to allow him to cooperate against co-defendant Mentor Leniqi, who was recently arrested.
January 19, 2022- STATUS UPDATE
The sentencing in US v THOMAS MCCORMICK is rescheduled to Friday, March 4, 2022 at 1:30 PM in Courtroom 30A, in person before Judge John D. Bates. in United States District Court in Washington, D.C.
You may complete a Victim Impact Statement prior to sentencing but you are NOT required to do so. Even if you were reimbursed for your loss, you still are entitled to be treated as a victim and as such, may complete a victim impact statement. If you chose to do so, please submit the victim impact statements via email by January 31, 2022 to USADC.VIS.USvTMCCormick@usdoj.gov
December 1, 2021- STATUS UPDATE
The sentencing in US v THOMAS MCCORMICK is rescheduled to Friday, January 28, 2022 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 30A, in person before Judge John D. Bates. in United States District Court in Washington, D.C.
You may complete a Victim Impact Statement prior to sentencing but you are NOT required to do so. Even if you were reimbursed for your loss, you still are entitled to be treated as a victim and as such, may complete a victim impact statement. If you chose to do so, please submit the victim impact statements via email by January 14, 2021 to USADC.VIS.USvTMCCormick@usdoj.gov
In December, 2018, the defendant McCormick, an American, and three others were charged by indictment with a racketeering conspiracy to develop and distribute malware through the major computer hacking forum known as Darkode. Arrest warrants are still outstanding for Skorjanc, a Slovenian national, Mentor Leneqi, a Serbian, and Florencio Ruiz, a Spaniard. The other foreign countries have declined to extradite the other three defendants to the U.S. for prosecution, but they remain fugitives from justice here in the United States.
Darkode was the name given to a group operating on the internet as a criminal organization. It was an online, password-protected criminal forum where high-level international computer hackers and other cyber-criminals convened to develop, buy, sell, trade, and share hacking tools, information, expertise and ideas. Before becoming a member of Darkode, prospective members were vetted through a process in which an existing member invited a prospective member to the forum to present the skills or products that he or she could bring to the group. Darkode members allegedly used each other’s skills and products to infect computers and electronic devices of victims around the world with malware and, thereby gain access to, and control over, those devices.
Thomas McCormick, pled guilty to racketeering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. The racketeering conspiracy charge includes conspiracy to commit bank, wire, and access device fraud, identity theft, hacking, and extortion. On September 14, 2021, the case was unsealed in United States District Court in Washington, DC, and currently set for sentencing on December 3, 2021 and 10:00am EST. If you would like to submit a victim impact statement in this case, you may email your statement to USADC.VIS.USvTMCCormick@usdoj.gov.
You may complete a Victim Impact Statement prior to sentencing but you are NOT required to do so. Even if you were reimbursed for your loss, you still are entitled to be treated as a victim and as such, may complete a victim impact statement. If you chose to do so, please submit the victim impact statements via email by November 12, 2021 to USADC.VIS.USvTMCCormick@usdoj.gov
If you wish to attend the sentencing, it will be held December 3, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. at the U.S. Courthouse, 3rd and Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. You may attend the sentencing by dialing in to the hearing via the court’s access line.
Should you have questions concerning this case, please call toll free 1-844-527-5299 (Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Eastern), or send an email to USAEO.MCAP@usdoj.gov. Please include your Victim Identification Number (VIN), found in the closing paragraph of this notification, when contacting MCAP via phone or email. If you are having technical difficulties with VNS, please contact the VNS Help Desk at the numbers found in the closing of this notification.
Due to the large number of victims in this matter, you will likely not receive additional correspondence by mail but notice will continue to be available by the other means provided by VNS including email. Through the Victim Notification System (VNS) we will continue to provide you with updated scheduling and event information as the case proceeds through the criminal justice system. You may obtain current information about this case on the VNS website at https://www.notify.usdoj.gov or from the VNS Call Center at 1-866-DOJ-4YOU (1-866-365-4968) (TDD/TTY: 1-866-228-4619) (International: 1-502-213-2767). In addition, you may use the Call Center or Internet to update your contact information and/or change your decision about participation in the notification program.
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