Christopher Chaney, the Florida man accused of hacking into e-mail accounts of numerous celebrities, has his bail increased to $110,000 during Tuesday, November 1's arraignment.
- Nov 2, 2011
AceShowbiz - Christopher Chaney, who is accused of hacking into the e-mail accounts of numerous celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis, has pleaded not guilty in federal court. He entered the plea on Tuesday, November 1 when making his first court appearance in Los Angeles, California.
Charged with nine counts of computer hacking for gain, eight counts of aggravated identify theft and nine counts of illegal wiretapping, the Florida native faces a maximum of 121 years in federal prison. Prosecutors noted that the aggravated identity theft charge alone carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence. Trial has been set for December 27.
During the Tuesday arraignment, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Walsh set a trial date of December 27. He also modified Christopher's bail to $110,000, and ordered him to wear an electronic location-monitoring bracelet upon his return to Florida. The judge additionally refrained him from using computers and smoking marijuana.
Christopher was arrested on October 12 after an 11-month investigation dubbed "Operation Hackerazzi" by the FBI. He was released from a Jacksonville jail on a $10,000 bond. Of his arrest, the 35-year-old said he was actually "relieved" to be caught because he became "addicted" to the intrusion and "didn't know how to stop."
One of Christopher's victims, Scarlett Johansson, has recently broken her silence over her naked pictures, which were leaked earlier this year. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actress said, "They were sent to my husband. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not like I was shooting a porno... although there's nothing wrong with that either."
