Hacker that leaked nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence sentenced to eight months in prison

In 2014, George Garofano and three other men hacked and leaked nude photos of several female celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton. According to The Verge, a judge sentenced him to eight months in federal prison.

When the hack happened, Jennifer Lawrence responded, saying that this invasion of privacy was equivalent to a sex crime. She also fought for tougher laws. Lawrence's rep pursued this, saying that this was clearly a violation of privacy and that anyone who shares and distributes these photos of Lawrence will be prosecuted.

Jennifer Lawrence has become one of the most beloved actresses around, and has certainly achieved A-list status in Hollywood.

George Garofano posed as Apple employee to gain personal information

Garafano was originally accused of hacking the iCloud accounts of his victims and allowing their private information and nude photos to be released onto the internet. Last April he ended up pleading guilty to unauthorized access of a protected computer to obtain information belonging to 240 accounts.

George Garofano was able to commit his crimes because he sent out emails that appeared to be from Apple that encouraged his victims to disclose their usernames and passwords or to input them onto a third-party website, which he would later check.

US District Judge Victor Bolden sentenced Garofano to eight months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Lawrence went on Twitter to express her happiness regarding the conviction.

Garofano is the third hacker behind the leak to be sent to prison

Three other men have been found guilty and received prison sentences of up to 18 months.

George Garofano issued a statement to the court and said that he blames nobody but himself. He also mentioned how the felony conviction would impact him for the rest of his life.

The photos were uploaded to 4chan and Reddit on August 31, 2014. It took Reddit a week to shut down the subreddit. The Guardian reports that the US Attorney's Office acknowledged that there is no evidence that the other hackers shared or posted the stolen photos online, but Garofano distributed the photos online.

Prosecutors were fighting for a sentence of 10 to 16 months in prison. Garofano asked for leniency, requesting five months in prison and five months of home confinement. Defense attorney Richard Lynch wrote: “He now stands before the court having matured, accepting responsibility for his actions and having not been in trouble with the law since. There is nothing to suggest that he would ever engage in this or any other criminal conduct in the future.”