If this was an escape plan, it was a pretty Mickey Mouse operation.
Somerville, Mass. resident Martin Gottesfeld, 31, who disappeared while under investigation for a cyberattack on Boston Children's Hospital in April 2014, was arrested in Miami on Wednesday after a Disney Cruise ship rescued him and his wife from a stranded boat off Cuba.
Gottesfeld's Caribbean caper came to an abrupt end on Feb. 16 when Gottesfeld placed a distress call after his boat ran into trouble, according to a release from the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gottesfeld is charged with one count of conspiracy for his alleged role in a DDoS attack that took down the hospital's website and disrupted operations for about a week. Claimed in the name of Anonymous, the attack was retaliation for how the hospital handled a high-profile custody case. “Responding to, and mitigating, the damage from this attack cost the hospital more than $300,000,” the release stated.
Gottesfeld's whereabouts had been a mystery since last week, when the Somerville Police Department conducted a wellness check and found his apartment abandoned.