New Jersey Man Sentenced For Damaging Employer's Computers

PHILADELPHIA - Lars Jepsen, 38, formerly of Deptford, NJ, was sentenced yesterday to five months in prison for hacking his former employer’s computers.  He pleaded guilty on October 29, 2015, to knowingly causing damage to a protected computer and knowingly using the means of identification of another person with intent to commit a crime.  In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr., ordered three years of supervised release, with the first six months in home confinement, a $3,000 fine, a $200 special assessment, and restitution of $9,500.

Jepsen damaged the computers of his former employer, after he had been fired. He did this using the username and password of another employee that he had acquired while working on that employee’s company computer. Jepsen drove from his New Jersey home to Allentown, PA, where he found an open Internet access point. He used that location to log into the employer’s network with the other employee’s credentials and then disabled the company’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone network. The company lost its telephone service for several hours.

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael L. Levy.