A California man who logged on to the Nintendo of America server and led the details with Nintendo Switch before the launch of 2017 should pay the company nearly $ 260,000 in restitution, and that may be less than his problems.
Ryan S. Hernandez pleaded guilty Friday in cases related to the 2016 hacking program that allowed him access to Nintendo's servers, where he was able to download some private files related to the game's subsequent release of the switch. But he also admitted charges of sexual exploitation of children, related to video texts and pictures of more than 1,000 children he kept in a folder he called "The Bad Stuff."
Nintendo charges could bring him to five years in prison, but child sex offenses carry a 20-year sentence. Hernandez will also have to register as a sex offender. Prosecutors, in a plea agreement, recommend that the judge sentence him to three years in prison. Hernandez will be sentenced on April 21, 2020.
In statement from the office of Brian T. Moran, US Attorney for the Western Cape in Washington (Seattle), prosecutors say Hernandez contacted investigators about the first hacking in October 2017. Then, at 16, he vowed to stop his hacking.
"However, from at least June 2018 to June 2019, Hernandez returned to his perilous activities," the statement said, "by hacking into many Nintendo servers and stealing confidential information through various video games, gaming, and developer tools."
Prosecutors say Hernandez bragged about his theft on Twitter and Discord and relayed the information to others. They also said that he worked with an online forum, called "Ryan & # 39; s Underground Hangout," where he shared information about the weaknesses of Nintendo's network with others.
Hernandez has agreed to pay Nintendo $ 259,323 to repay Nintendo "for the cost of repairs caused by its behavior," the office said.
