Ranch
Emily Gera
Sunday, February 2, 2020, GMT
Ranch
Ryan Hernandez has pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to the Nintendo hacking program, which has led to the release of pre-release information about the Switch.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Californian Ryan Hernandez, 21, and a colleague deceived a Nintendo employee in 2016 in an attempt to steal confidential information from the company. In 2017, the FBI contacted Hernandez and his parents to warn him about the consequences of future hacking.
However, between June 2018 and June 2019, Hernandez continued to break in to multiple Nintendo servers and illegally access company information.
Hernandez will continue to be a big success on Twitter, Discord, and his personal chat forum "Ryan's Underground Hangout", where he discusses confidential information discovered through hacking Nintendo, and sharing vulnerabilities in the Nintendo network. As a result, the FBI raided Hernandez's home in June 2019 and found "tens of thousands of Nintendo confidential documents."
He is also charged with possession of child pornography.
According to the Justice Department, Hernandez has agreed to pay Nintendo compensation of $ 259,323 as part of its plea agreement. His full sentence is yet to be determined; however, he faces up to five years in prison for hacking and up to 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography.