Web designer to go to prison for unlawful computer intrusion

This afternoon, a federal judge sentenced Andrew West, 40, of Albuquerque, to a year and a day of imprisonment for his conviction for accessing a protected computer without authorization and with the intention of committing fraud and obtaining money. West will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence. West also was ordered to pay $5,085.07 in restitution to the victims of his crime.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that West entered a guilty plea to an information charging him with accessing a protected computer without authorization and with the intention of committing fraud and obtaining money in November 2011 in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.
According to West’s plea agreement, in early November 2011, West executed a scheme to defraud an artist who routinely sold his artwork through online sales and collected payment using a PayPal account. West admitted that he obtained unauthorized access to the victim’s computer system and caused the payments that were intended to go into the victim’s PayPal account to be diverted to a PayPal account West created and controlled. Between November 6, 2011 and November 17, 2011, West unlawfully diverted more than $4,000 intended for the victim’s account to an account that West controlled. Under the terms of the plea agreement, West will pay restitution to the victim of his crime.
The case was investigated by the FBI as part of its Cyber Criminal Computer Intrusion Initiative and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson.