A former U.S. State Department employee was sentenced in a U.S. District Court in Georgia to 57 months in prison for conducting an elaborate international cyber “sextortion” campaign that included minors.
Michael C. Ford, 36, of Atlanta had pleaded guilty to nine counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of computer hacking to extort and one count of wire fraud in connection with his ongoing criminal scheme, according to a Department of Justice press release.
“Ford hacked hundreds of email accounts, particularly targeting young women so he could extort them into sending him sexually explicit images,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said in the release.
If his victims refused to comply Ford threatened to send explicit photos to friends and family members.
Ford also posed as a model scout to con women into sending him personal information and sexually explicit photos.
