Computer Hacker Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud

Computer Hacker Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud

The Associated Press

March 22, 1991

BALTIMORE -- A computer hacker pleaded guilty Friday to stealing information from American Telephone & Telegraph and its subsidiary Bell Laboratories.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Leonard Rose pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of sending AT&T source codes via computer to Richard Andrews, an Illinois hacker, and a similar wire fraud charge involving a Chicago hacker.

Prosecutors said they will ask that Rose be sentenced to two concurrent one-year terms. Rose is expected to be sentenced in May.

Neither Rose nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment late Friday.

"Other computer hackers who choose to use their talents to interfere with the security and privacy of computer systems can expect to be prosecuted and to face similar penalties," said U.S. Attorney Breckinridge L. Willcox.

"The sentence contemplated in the plea agreement reflects the serious nature of this new form of theft," Willcox said.

Rose, 32, was charged in May 1990 in a five-count indictment following an investigation by the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney's offices in Baltimore and Chicago.

He also had been charged with distributing "trojan horse" programs, designed to gain unauthorized access to computer systems, to other hackers.

Prosecutors said Rose and other hackers entered into a scheme to steal computer source codes from AT&T's UNIX computer system.

The plea agreement stipulates that after he serves his sentence, Rose must disclose his past conduct to potential employers that have computers with similar source codes.