Asked in Criminal Law for Ohio

Q: A 20 year old steals billions by hacking into a companies website. What’s the punishment? Can he keep the money?

Assume theft charges have been filed (I don’t know how guy would’ve been caught otherwise). And when I say can he keep the money I mean to use after he serves his time. Can he refuse to return the money?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: A cyber criminal who steals billions and gets caught is facing decades in prison on both a state and federal level. He or she needs to hire an attorney ASAP. As for the money, they will do everything they can to get it back. It will be ordered as restitution, if he is convicted. The government will subpoena, attach, and freeze bank accounts and assets they can find. But it seems unlikely anyone will ever find all the money. He will probably wind up keeping some of it.

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