A US student who committed an identity theft to rig election for president of the student body is sentenced to a year in prison
Matthew Weaver stole the passwords of 745 students at California State University San Marcos to cast ballot for himself and friends.
The 22-year-old was one of only two candidates for the role.
Prosecutors say Weaver had researched the scheme online beforehand and then made a plan to blame others.
He was arrested in February after a year-long investigation and pleaded guilty in a month later to wire fraud, unauthorised access of a computer and identity theft.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
He installed small electronic device that record a computer`s keystroke in order to steal the passwords, before casting about 630 votes for himself.
Assistant US attorney Sabrina Feve called Weaver “an incredibly entitled young man“.
Sentencing him on Monday, US District Judge Larry Burns said that Weaver had shown “phenomenal misjudgement“.
“He`s on fire for this crime and the he pours gasoline on it“.
Judge Burns said, report the Los Angeles Times.
According to prosecutors, Weaver was caught red-handed.
After University Officials receive numerous complaints about students being unable to vote, they noticed hundreds of ballots coming from one computer.
As the voting period ended, campus police found Weaver sitting at the machine.
The school cancelled the results of the election for the job, which reportedly comes with an $8,000 (£5,300) stipend
Source
BBC news
